For decades scientists have been trying to solve riddles over ancient mass extinctions. With some of the scientists coming up claiming abrupt climate change as the main cause, others hooked on massive volcanic eruption as the main cause that might have wiped out large mammals.
But, recently, scientists have come up with another theory to ancient extinctions – its a large, extraterrestrial rock that may have exploded over North America 13,000 years ago, they say.
The time period when the scientists think this might have occurred is — Younger Dryas – when the earth experienced abrupt cooling that lasted for about 1,000 years.
The evidence reveals that the extraterrestrial rock must have been about five kilometers across! It either exploded in the atmosphere or hit the Laurentide ice sheet directly. The Laurentide ice sheet is located in North America’s Northeastern section.
The fiery impact of the rock might have led to wildfires across the continent, killing off the vegetation in the process. This has deprived and starved many of the larger mammals like the woolly mammoths of their food supply.
And this eventually has led to their extinction, followed by the Clovis people of North America who thrived on hunting the mammoths down as a major source of their food.
Whatever be the finding, it is sure to kick up controversies among the scientific fraternity, part of which also strongly claims climate change as the prime culprit.