The 'Human' Statistics of Terrestrial Impact Cratering Rate
First published: 1997
Brief summary
Reviews the 1984 discovery of a 28.4 Myr cycle in the terrestrial impact crater record, close to the 26 Myr mass-extinction cycle, and surveys proposed astronomical mechanisms including the Nemesis and 'galactic carousel' models.
Article
The 'Human' Statistics of Terrestrial Impact Cratering Rate is a preprint published by arXiv in 1997. It reviews the 1984 discovery of a 28.4 Myr cycle in the terrestrial impact crater record, close to the 26 Myr mass-extinction cycle, and surveys proposed astronomical mechanisms including the Nemesis and 'galactic carousel' models.
The analysis focuses on 28.4 Myr (craters), 26 Myr (extinctions). The study reviews Nemesis (unseen solar companion) and galactic-plane-crossing hypotheses as mechanisms. This gives the cycle claim a specific numerical and evidential setting rather than presenting periodicity only as a visual impression.
The article reports the following result: A 28.4 Myr cycle was detected in the terrestrial impact crater record, close to the 26 Myr cycle discovered in major mass extinctions of species; an unseen solar companion (Nemesis) was suggested as a possible driving mechanism. The interpretation is strongest when it survives dating uncertainty, preservation bias, alternative event selections and correction for multiple statistical tests.
For cycles researchers, the article brings together impact cratering, 28-million-year cycle, mass extinctions, nemesis hypothesis. It is relevant to debates over whether recurring patterns in the geological record reflect astronomical forcing, internal Earth processes, preservation bias or dating uncertainty.
Because it is a preprint, the work should be read alongside later peer-reviewed publications and independent replications. It remains useful because the proposed cycle, dataset and analytical approach are stated clearly enough to be scrutinised.
Source details and credits
- Source / publisher: arXiv
- Source type: Preprint (important earlier work, pre-2000)
- URL type: PDF
- Credits: arXiv
- URL: https://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/9701104