Diamonds provide evidence of Comet Impact

About 13,000 years ago, North America was hit by a large comet, which ultimately led to the extinction of a large range of animals, including mammoths, reports a group of archaeologists and gemologists from the universities of Oregon, California, Northern Arizona University, Oklahoma University and DePaul University. As a proof, the researchers have abundant tiny particles of diamond dust found at six different sites!

Comet Impact and Diamonds! Image: University of Oregon

The researchers reported their findings in the latest issue of journal ‘Science’. According to them, the tiny diamonds, known as nanodiamonds, are produced under extreme tempressure and high pressure conditions created by cosmic impacts. They found abundant nanodiamonds weighing from about 10 to 2,700 parts per billion, at Murray Springs (Arizona), Bull Creek (Oklahoma), Gainey (Michigan), and Topper (South Carolina) of United States, as well as Lake Hind (Manitoba) and Chobot (Alberta) in Canada.

According to the researchers, the comet was likely part of a rare swarm of carbon-and-water-rich comets that rained down over the continent 12,900 years ago. The heat produced from the blast caused a glacier that used to cover the Great Lakes to melt, which ultimately created a massive flood all the way down the Mississippi River. The cool waves from the glacial floods into the Gulf of Mexico caused currents to change in the Atlantic Ocean, causing a cooling pattern known as the Younger Dryas.

“The nanodiamonds that we found at all six locations exist only in sediments associated with the Younger Dryas Boundary layers, not above it or below it,” said Kennett, a University of Oregon archaeologist. “These discoveries provide strong evidence for a cosmic impact event at approximately 12,900 years ago that would have had enormous environmental consequences for plants, animals and humans across North America.”