[meteorite-list] Exploding asteroid theory strengthened by newevidence located in Ohio, Indiana

[Jerry]

Darren, suspend judgement and keep an open mind.
Wait for the whole story. It may take a whole lifetime.
Jerry Flaherty
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Darren Garrison" <cynapse at charter.net>
To: <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 4:47 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Exploding asteroid theory strengthened by 
newevidence located in Ohio, Indiana


> Okay, I'm not entirely clear just what this story is trying to say.  But 
> it
> seems to be claiming that gold silver, and diamonds are found in Ohio and
> Indiana that are debris blasted there by a late-ice age meteorite strike 
> in
> Canada.  Which makes no sense whatsoever, given that there is no recent
> massive-freaking crater in Canada that could account for the vast amounts 
> of
> impactites this would imply.
>
>
> http://www.physorg.com/news134233301.html
>
> Geological evidence found in Ohio and Indiana in recent weeks is 
> strengthening
> the case to attribute what happened 12,900 years ago in North America --  
> when
> the end of the last Ice Age unexpectedly turned into a phase of extinction 
> for
> animals and humans -- to a cataclysmic comet or asteroid explosion over 
> top of
> Canada.
>
> A comet/asteroid theory advanced by Arizona-based geophysicist Allen West 
> in the
> past two years says that an object from space exploded just above the 
> earth's
> surface at that time over modern-day Canada, sparking a massive shock wave 
> and
> heat-generating event that set large parts of the northern hemisphere 
> ablaze,
> setting the stage for the extinctions.
>
> Now University of Cincinnati Assistant Professor of Anthropology Ken 
> Tankersley,
> working in conjunction with West and Indiana Geological Society Research
> Scientist Nelson R. Schaffer, has verified evidence from sites in Ohio and
> Indiana -- including, locally, Hamilton and Clermont counties in Ohio and 
> Brown
> County in Indiana -- that offers the strongest support yet for the 
> exploding
> comet/asteroid theory.
>
> Samples of diamonds, gold and silver that have been found in the region 
> have
> been conclusively sourced through X-ray diffractometry in the lab of UC
> Professor of Geology Warren Huff back to the diamond fields region of 
> Canada.
>
> The only plausible scenario available now for explaining their presence 
> this far
> south is the kind of cataclysmic explosive event described by West's 
> theory. "We
> believe this is the strongest evidence yet indicating a comet impact in 
> that
> time period," says Tankersley.
>
> Ironically, Tankersley had gone into the field with West believing he 
> might be
> able to disprove West's theory.
>
> Tankersley was familiar through years of work in this area with the 
> diamonds,
> gold and silver deposits, which at one point could be found in such 
> abundance in
> this region that the Hopewell Indians who lived here about 2,000 years ago
> engaged in trade in these items.
>
> Prevailing thought said that these deposits, which are found at a soil 
> depth
> consistent with the time frame of the comet/asteroid event, had been 
> brought
> south from the Great Lakes region by glaciers.
>
> "My smoking gun to disprove (West) was going to be the gold, silver and
> diamonds," Tankersley says. "But what I didn't know at that point was a
> conclusion he had reached that he had not yet made public -- that the 
> likely
> point of impact for the comet wasn't just anywhere over Canada, but 
> located over
> Canada's diamond-bearing fields. Instead of becoming the basis for 
> rejecting his
> hypothesis, these items became the very best evidence to support it."
>
> Additional sourcing work is being done at the sites looking for iridium,
> micro-meteorites and nano-diamonds that bear the markers of the 
> diamond-field
> region, which also should have been blasted by the impact into this 
> region.
>
> Much of the work is being done in Sheriden Cave in north-central Ohio's 
> Wyandot
> County, a rich repository of material dating back to the Ice Age.
>
> Tankersley first came into contact with West and Schaffer when they were 
> invited
> guests for interdisciplinary colloquia presented by UC's Department of 
> Geology
> this spring.
>
> West presented on his theory that a large comet or asteroid, believed to 
> be more
> than a mile in diameter, exploded just above the earth at a time when the 
> last
> Ice Age appeared to be drawing to a close.
>
> The timing attached to this theory of about 12,900 years ago is consistent 
> with
> the known disappearances in North America of the wooly mammoth population 
> and
> the first distinct human society to inhabit the continent, known as the 
> Clovis
> civilization. At that time, climatic history suggests the Ice Age should 
> have
> been drawing to a close, but a rapid change known as the Younger Dryas 
> event,
> instead ushered in another 1,300 years of glacial conditions. A 
> cataclysmic
> explosion consistent with West's theory would have the potential to create 
> the
> kind of atmospheric turmoil necessary to produce such conditions.
>
> "The kind of evidence we are finding does suggest that climate change at 
> the end
> of the last Ice Age was the result of a catastrophic event," Tankersley 
> says.
>
> Currently, Tankersley can be seen in a new documentary airing on the 
> National
> Geographic channel. The film "Ancient Asteroids" is part of that network's
> "Naked Science" series.
>
> The new discoveries made working with West and Schaffer will be 
> incorporated
> into two more specials that Tankersley is currently involved with -- one 
> for the
> PBS series "Nova" and a second for the History Channel that will be 
> filming
> Tankersley and his UC students in the field this summer. Another 
> documentary,
> this one being produced by the Discovery Channel and the British public
> television network Channel 4, will also be following Tankersley and his 
> students
> later this summer.
>
> As more data continues to be compiled, Tankersley, West and Schaffer will 
> be
> publishing about this newest twist in the search to explain the history of 
> our
> planet and its climate.
>
> Climate change is a favorite topic for Tankersley. "The ultimate 
> importance of
> this kind of work is showing that we can't control everything," he says. 
> "Our
> planet has been hit by asteroids many times throughout its history, and 
> when
> that happens, it does produce climate change."
>
> Source: University of Cincinnati
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