How an unknown paleontologist's discovery sheds new light on how all life nearly ended on earth

[hlthe2b]

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Not really possible to excerpt in four paragraphs a representative piece of the article, so recommend reading it in entirety

The Day the Dinosaurs Died
A young paleontologist may have discovered a record of the most significant event in the history of life on Earth.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/08/the-day-the-dinosaurs-died
--snip--

One of the central mysteries of paleontology is the so-called “three-­metre problem.” In a century and a half of assiduous searching, almost no dinosaur remains have been found in the layers three metres, or about nine feet, below the KT boundary, a depth representing many thousands of years. Consequently, numerous paleontologists have argued that the dinosaurs were on the way to extinction long before the asteroid struck, owing perhaps to the volcanic eruptions and climate change. Other scientists have countered that the three-metre problem merely reflects how hard it is to find fossils. Sooner or later, they’ve contended, a scientist will discover dinosaurs much closer to the moment of destruction.
--snip--
On August 5, 2013, I received an e-mail from a graduate student named Robert DePalma. I had never met DePalma, but we had corresponded on paleontological matters for years, ever since he had read a novel I’d written that centered on the discovery of a fossilized Tyrannosaurus rex killed by the KT impact. “I have made an incredible and unprecedented discovery,” he wrote me, from a truck stop in Bowman, North Dakota. “It is extremely confidential and only three others know of it at the moment, all of them close colleagues.” He went on, “It is far more unique and far rarer than any simple dinosaur discovery. I would prefer not outlining the details via e-mail, if possible.” He gave me his cell-phone number and a time to call.
--snip--
DePalma’s find was in the Hell Creek geological formation, which outcrops in parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming, and contains some of the most storied dinosaur beds in the world. At the time of the impact, the Hell Creek landscape consisted of steamy, subtropical lowlands and floodplains along the shores of an inland sea. The land teemed with life and the conditions were excellent for fossilization, with seasonal floods and meandering rivers that rapidly buried dead animals and plants.
--snip--
“We can trace our origins back to that event,” DePalma said. “To actually be there at this site, to see it, to be connected to that day, is a special thing. This is the last day of the Cretaceous. When you go one layer up—the very next day—that’s the Paleocene, that’s the age of mammals, that’s our age.” ♦

[empedocles]

1. An asteroid struck with tremendous, earth changing impact.

[hlthe2b]

2. More complicated than that basic story, which we all learned as school kids, though...

[exboyfil]

3. Still under peer review

but this is a well written article. Looking forward to the formal paper that has some heavyweight coauthors.

Here is a comment on the paper. Many of the most important claims are not in the peer reviewed paper. Care should be taken until those other claims are reviewed.


“Unfortunately, many interesting aspects of this study appear only in the New Yorker article and not in the scientific paper,” says Kirk Johnson, director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. “This is a sloppy way to conduct science and it leaves open many questions. At the present moment, interesting data are presented in the paper while other elements of the story that could be data are, for the moment, only rumors.”
Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/fossil-site-captures-dinosaur-killing-impact-its-only-beginning-story-180971868/#dWwcscmXJOlvUFb3.99

[Cracklin Charlie]

4. Fascinating article!

Can’t wait to see more about this find.

[procon]

5. Great story about a critical event that changed the world. nt