NASA NTRS · 19890024813
Global fire at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary
Abstract
Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary clays rich in iridium from five sites in Europe and New Zealand were investigated. The clays are found to be 100-10,000-fold-enriched in elemental carbon (mainly soot), which is isotopically uniform and apparently comes from a single global fire. The soot layer coincides with the iridium layer, suggesting that the fire was triggered by meteorite impact and began before the ejecta had settled.
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Wolbach, Wendy S., Gilmour, Iain, Anders, Edward, Orth, Charles J., Brooks, Robert R.. 1988-08-25. Global fire at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19890024813
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