Studying Nature’s Impact on Ancient Civilization and Tuning In Online to Make Sense of Meteorites
Okmok. In remote Alaska. A strange name and a strange place for what some scientists and historians now say caused the downfall of the Roman Republic and the Egyptian Ptolemaic Kingdom shortly after the demise of Julius Caesar. Huh?
A detailed study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences notes that Mount Etna in Sicily erupted at Caesar’s death in 44 BCE. Some have speculated that this eruption may have resulted in a cold-weather period accompanied by crop failures, famine, and other natural problems. The resulting outcome of all this was civic unrest and violence all around the Mediterranean region. That situation seems intensely familiar as the coronavirus pandemic is a contributing factor of social dissonance and upheavals all around today’s world.
One problem: that eruption of Mount Etna, truly, just wasn’t all that big. Now, a thorough analysis of volcanic debris in Alaska, ash found trapped in Greenland ice cores, tree ring analysis in Europe and North America, and deposits in a cave in China all point to a truly massive eruption of Alaska’s Mount Okmok with worldwide implications.
The volcano let go with a mighty bang about the time Roman senators were too busy assassinating Caesar to take note. Evidence collected from all the locations noted above indicates that 43 BCE and 42 BCE were among the ten coldest years within the past 2,500 years of Earth history. With that, the audience seems to indicate that cold snap likely was caused by the ash and gas unleashed into the atmosphere by Okmok.
While we may more-or-less ignore natural Earth processes, such processes can have very grave consequences—as can the uncontrolled release of ash and gas by humanmade processes today. To politicians who often seem far-too-busy assassinating each other’s character on either side of an imaginary political divide rather than paying attention to the very real problems facing each and everyone of us
“ordinary folk”: kindly take note and, please, take heed! Et tu, Brute?
EXPLORING THE WONDERS OF THE UNIVERSE ONLINE
The UCLA Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences is home to one marvelous gem: the UCLA Meteorite Gallery. The Gallery is closed due to the pandemic, but once it re-opens, I urge anyone visiting or visiting the greater Los Angeles region to check it out.
It is a fascinating local resource with all manner of meteorites, including many found in California. It also has a lovely display of “Meteor-Wrongs,” or rocks brought in by folks which have proven to be chunks of magnetite, slag, or other Earth-bound stones that never enjoyed the thrill of zinging through our atmosphere.
In addition to the Gallery, the department offers a monthly lecture series that draws upon meteorite experts from their faculty and worldwide. I have wanted to attend these lectures ever since they began but never found time to make the trip down to Los Angeles. The courses always seemed to be scheduled on dates that conflicted with other events. And then there was the prospect of facing LA freeway traffic…
While the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc across the world, I grudgingly give it a measure of thanks in finally getting me to one of these lectures, which are now being conducted via Zoom. The new online reality has opened up the range of lecturers and participants.
On August 9, 2020, I tuned in with 118 others from as far away as Japan to hear Dr. Meenakshi Wadhwa tell her “top five reasons” to be excited about meteorites.
Currently at Arizona State University (ASU), Dr. Wadhwa has overseen meteorite collections at ASU, the Field Museum in Chicago, and elsewhere. ASU has one of the world’s largest research collections of meteorites, including some that Wadhwa herself collected on icy slopes in Antarctica.
She has recently been elected President of the Meteoritical Society and specializes in what meteorites can tell us of our Solar System’s formation and evolution. She has even had an asteroid named after her: 8356 Wadhwa. She is now Director of the ASU School of Earth and Space Exploration.
Although the majority of people tuning in were meteorite experts and students, the presentation was pitched to the layman’s level, which suited me just fine as I learned how meteorites are, in Wadhwa’s words, “key to answering some of humanity’s biggest questions:
• Are we alone in the Universe, or is there life elsewhere?
• How and when did our Solar System and planets form?
• Where did the water in the Earth and other planetary bodies in our Solar System come from?
• How did life originate on our planet?”
To attend equally fascinating lectures addressing equally fascinating questions, visit the UCLA Meteorite Gallery website (www.meteorites.ucla.edu) or email meteorites@ucla.edu.
Check it out—then sign up for their next online lecture — a true silver lining in this time of the pandemic.