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The breakup of the L-chondrite parent body 466 Ma and its terrestrial effects-a search for a mid-Ordovician biodiversity event

Schmitz, Birger LU and Terfelt, Fredrik LU (2023) In Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences 72(1). p.94-97
Abstract

About a third of all meteorites that fall on Earth today, the stony L-chondrites, originate from a major breakup event in the asteroid belt 466 Ma, in the early Darriwilian. This is the largest asteroid breakup in the past three billion years documented by K-Ar gas-retention ages of recently fallen meteorites. There has been a debate whether the breakup had any effects on Earth’s biota. Based mainly on brachiopod data from western Russia, some authors have argued for the existence of a major biodiversity ‘event’ at approximately the time of the L-chondrite breakup. An analysis of the distribution of three fossil groups (conodonts, ostracods and trilobites) across the late Dapingian and early Darriwilian in three sections in southern... (More)

About a third of all meteorites that fall on Earth today, the stony L-chondrites, originate from a major breakup event in the asteroid belt 466 Ma, in the early Darriwilian. This is the largest asteroid breakup in the past three billion years documented by K-Ar gas-retention ages of recently fallen meteorites. There has been a debate whether the breakup had any effects on Earth’s biota. Based mainly on brachiopod data from western Russia, some authors have argued for the existence of a major biodiversity ‘event’ at approximately the time of the L-chondrite breakup. An analysis of the distribution of three fossil groups (conodonts, ostracods and trilobites) across the late Dapingian and early Darriwilian in three sections in southern Sweden shows no evidence of any biodiversity event. The only biotic changes outside a normal trend are those related to a sea-level fall following the arrival of large amounts of dust from the asteroid breakup. We conclude that the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event represents a sequence of changes over about 20 Myr, coinciding with an asteroid shower from the breakup of the L-chondrite parent body.

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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
biodiversity, Darriwilian, impact craters, meteorites, sea-level fall
in
Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences
volume
72
issue
1
pages
4 pages
publisher
Estonian Academy Publishers
external identifiers
  • scopus:85164588678
ISSN
1736-4728
DOI
10.3176/EARTH.2023.49
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8fe8a3f4-6726-4eb7-a9f8-a862eaa82b46
date added to LUP
2023-10-04 10:46:58
date last changed
2023-10-04 10:46:58
@article{8fe8a3f4-6726-4eb7-a9f8-a862eaa82b46,
  abstract     = {{<p>About a third of all meteorites that fall on Earth today, the stony L-chondrites, originate from a major breakup event in the asteroid belt 466 Ma, in the early Darriwilian. This is the largest asteroid breakup in the past three billion years documented by K-Ar gas-retention ages of recently fallen meteorites. There has been a debate whether the breakup had any effects on Earth’s biota. Based mainly on brachiopod data from western Russia, some authors have argued for the existence of a major biodiversity ‘event’ at approximately the time of the L-chondrite breakup. An analysis of the distribution of three fossil groups (conodonts, ostracods and trilobites) across the late Dapingian and early Darriwilian in three sections in southern Sweden shows no evidence of any biodiversity event. The only biotic changes outside a normal trend are those related to a sea-level fall following the arrival of large amounts of dust from the asteroid breakup. We conclude that the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event represents a sequence of changes over about 20 Myr, coinciding with an asteroid shower from the breakup of the L-chondrite parent body.</p>}},
  author       = {{Schmitz, Birger and Terfelt, Fredrik}},
  issn         = {{1736-4728}},
  keywords     = {{biodiversity; Darriwilian; impact craters; meteorites; sea-level fall}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{94--97}},
  publisher    = {{Estonian Academy Publishers}},
  series       = {{Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences}},
  title        = {{The breakup of the L-chondrite parent body 466 Ma and its terrestrial effects-a search for a mid-Ordovician biodiversity event}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3176/EARTH.2023.49}},
  doi          = {{10.3176/EARTH.2023.49}},
  volume       = {{72}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}