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P-T is likely not due to the Wilkes Land crater, which would be 2.5x the size of the K-Pg impact and would have left an comparable amount (or more) of iridium i
by blueflow 2y ago
P-T is likely not due to the Wilkes Land crater, which would be 2.5x the size of the K-Pg impact and would have left an comparable amount (or more) of iridium in the boundary sediments. There are elevated iridium levels in the P-T boundaries, but only sporadically.
- mapt 2y agoThe theory being something along the lines of "Large mantle plume under Siberia suddenly freed when surface crust is fractured in numerous places by extensive antopodal convergence of shockwaves from the Wilkes Land impactor".
- jordanb 2y agoIf the Wilkes Land formation is an impact crater (not proven) it's 2x the size of Chicxulub. You don't need any vulcanization in Siberia to explain a mass extinction. But it's not proven to be an impact crater, nor is its age determined with any specificity. There's the lack of Iridium, and Erwin also had complaints about the modeling for an "antopodal convergence crack."