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NSF PR 97-15 - February 18, 1997
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New Findings More Dramatic than Television
Ocean Researchers Report New Evidence
of Meteorite Impact as NBC-TV Premiers "Asteroid"
National Science Foundation (NSF) officials today
congratulated an international team of researchers
who have recovered new evidence of a large Caribbean
meteorite impact that occurred 65 million years ago.
Many scientists believe that meteorite collision with
earth led to the extinction of dinosaurs and other
species.
NSF Assistant Director for Geosciences Dr. Robert
W. Corell praised the scientists whose drill ship,
the JOIDES Resolution, came into the Port of
Charleston, SC on Friday, February 14 and who reported
their findings following a one-month research expedition.
"In my view," Corell said, "this is the most significant
discovery in geosciences in 20 years. Deep sea sediment
cores collected during the expedition provide a remarkable
record of the meteorite's impact and the resulting
debris - which may have triggered a serious decline
in the globe's temperature and created a kind of 'nuclear
winter' that drove dinosaurs and other species to
extinction."
"Even more significant," according to Corell, "is
that the team's deep sea sediment cores show the slow
process of the earth's long rejuvenation and recovery
from this catastrophe."
"Here's a case where science shows how real life is
more cataclysmic and amazing than television or Hollywood
- with all their special effects - can depict. The
impact of the asteroid featured in tonight's NBC-TV
show, "Asteroid", is peanuts compared to the
real thing faced by the world 65 million years ago."
"I heartily congratulate Dr. Richard Norris of the
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the other
co-chief scientists of the expedition. Their work
will assist us in better understanding the earth's
past and in determining the ocean's role in global
climate change in the future."
JOIDES Resolution is the world's largest scientific
research vessel. It is operated by the Ocean Drilling
Program, which is primarily funded by the National
Science Foundation and research agencies in 19 foreign
countries.
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