Earth's cooling around 13,000 years ago caused by Volcanic eruptions and not meteors

The ancient mystery about the sudden cooling of the Earth around 13,000 years ago has been solved after scientists found that it was volcanic eruptions and not meteors that caused it. According to a study published in the journal Science Advances research, a research conducted by a Texas A&M University revealed that the ancient sediment found in a central Texas Hall’s cave provided evidence that the cooling of the earth was not due to an extraterrestrial impact. 

Study researcher Michael Waters from the Texas A&M University in the US said, “One big question was, did an extra-terrestrial impact occur near the end of the last ice age, about 13,000 years ago as the ice sheets covering Canada were melting, and cause an abrupt cooling that thrust the northern hemisphere back into the ice age for an extra 1,200 years?".

Therefore, a team of researchers analyzed the 20,000 years old sediment at Hall's Cave, located in the Texas hill country. The team first began the research in 2017. Earlier, as per scientists, the theory of volcanic eruptions causing fall in temperature was rejected due to the lack of any associated geochemical fingerprint. However, the researchers now said that after the volcanic eruption, the global spread of aerosols reflected incoming solar radiation away from Earth which leads to global cooling post-eruption for one to five years. 

This work shows that the geochemical signature associated with the cooling event is not unique but occurred four times between 9,000 and 15,000 years ago, said Alan Brandon, professor of geosciences at the University of Houston and head of the research team in the study published in Science Advances journal.

The trigger for this cooling event didn't come from space. Prior geochemical evidence for a large meteor exploding in the atmosphere instead reflects a period of major volcanic eruptions, he added.

[Archaeological excavations at Hall's Cave. Image by Michael Waters/ Texas A&M University/ Study Science Advances Journal]

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Event cooled Earth by about 3 degrees

"The Younger Dryas, which occurred about 13,000 years ago, disrupted distinct warming at the end of the last ice age," the study authors wrote. At the end of the Younger Dryas, powerful volcanic eruptions along with the ice sheet discharge into the North Atlantic Ocean led to intense Northern Hemisphere cooling according to the study. The researchers concluded the theory after an isotopic analysis of sediments found at Hall's Cave that contained iridium, ruthenium, platinum, palladium, and rhenium. Researchers believed the event cooled the Earth by about 3 degrees Centigrade, a huge amount.

[Volcanic eruptions in the western Pacific Ocean. Image: NASA Earth Observatory]

“It is an exceptional record that offers a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary cooperation to investigate a number of important research questions,” Michael Waters, director of The Center for The Study of the First Americans and Distinguished Professor at Texas A&M University said. As per the study, the cave is layers of sediment, first identified by Thomas Stafford (Stafford Research Laboratories, Colorado), that dated to the time of the proposed impact that started the ancient cold snap on the Earth.  

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