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Supernova caused Earth Extinction Level Event?

108 views · Published 8 August 2016 · 1:03 · Indexed 10 November 2026

Channel: Civil Disturbia · 2016 · Science & Technology

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New evidence unearthed by scientists suggest a huge Supernova may have been responsible for a mass extinction event on Earth, 2.6 million years ago.
LINKS: 
Source: Deep-Ocean Crusts as Telescopes: Using Live Radioisotopes to Probe Supernova Nucleosynthesis
Brian D. Fields, Kathrin A. Hochmuth, John Ellis
http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0410525
News article 1: http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041101/full/news041101-5.html
News article 2: http://uk.businessinsider.com/stardust-ocean-radioactive-cosmic-supernova-explosion-pnas-2016-8?r=US&IR=T
Other useful info:
http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/supernova_1-xxltn.jpg
Stardust trapped deep within the ocean is helping piece together details of a cosmic event that may have changed our planet millions of years ago.
In 2004, scientists found some of this supernova debris in oceanic crust from the Pacific Ocean. But until now, scientists had a tough time pinpointing exactly how long ago the supernova ejected its insides into space. That's because the type of ocean crust they found the debris in grows extremely slowly - about 1 millimeter every million years.
In a new study published today in the proceedings of the national academy of sciences (PNAS), scientists were able to figure out how long ago the star exploded and how much time our solar system spent traveling through its stellar guts. Not only was the length of time our solar system spent in the star's remains surprising, it also coincides with an extinction event in Earth's oceans, as well as a period of global cooling.

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