Asteroid caused extinction during last ice-age

Washington: Researchers have found further evidence supporting the theory that an extraterrestrial body such as an asteroid or a comet may have crashed into the Earth almost 13,000 years ago, and caused the extinction of many large animals, and a likely decline in early human population. The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, noted that an asteroid or a comet hit the Earth, or blew up in the atmosphere 12,800 years ago, causing a period of extreme cooling that may have led to the extinction of more than 35 species including giant sloths, sabre-tooth cats, and mammoths in what is called the Younger Dryas climate event. The researchers, including those from the University of South Carolina (UofSC) in the US, found further evidence of a cosmic impact based on research done at White Pond near Elgin in the US. The new study adds to the discovery of platinum spikes — an element associated with cosmic objects like asteroids or comets — in multiple places across the world, including North America, Europe, western Asia, and recently in Chile and South Africa. “First, we thought it was a North American event, and then there was evidence in Europe and elsewhere that it was a Northern Hemisphere event. And now with the research in Chile and South Africa, it looks like it was probably a global event,” said study co-author Christopher Moore from UofSC. Archeologists continue to find evidence of an asteroid or comet impact pertaining to this time period, the study noted. “There have been numerous papers that have come out in the past couple of years with similar data from other sites”.