Firestorm That Consumed 10% of Earth Triggered an Ice Age 13,000 Years Ago

A great fire covered our planet 12,800 years ago that consumed a tenth of the Earth's surface during its surge, leaving numerous animals and plants to their demise.

Firestorm Covered the Planet 13,000 Years Ago After Last Glacial Maximum

This large fire can be compared to a separate prehistoric firestorm that took the lives of the dinosaurs. The older fire was an outcome of space rock, nearly a 100-kilometer in width when it slapped to the Earth's surface.

The prehistoric fire eventually cooled off, leaving thick clouds of dust that were stuck in the atmospheric region. This led to another widescale ice age event, which kept the planet colder for thousands of years. During this time, Earth was still recovering from being covered with glaciers for 100,000 years.

University of Kansas and co-author of the study Adrian Melott said in a Science Alert report that the theory about the raging fires and the sudden ice age is caused by a large comet that had its fragments scattered across the face of our planet.

Melott explained that the event was imprinted in many chemical signatures extracted from nitrate, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and other elements. Based on the records, 10 percent of the planet's surface, or about 10 million square kilometers, was consumed by fire.

Confirming the initial findings from Melott's team, an international collaboration involving 24 scientists was formed. The supporting study attempted to find more conclusive pieces of evidence from the shock waves and burning fires of the major event. The investigation utilized geochemical and isotopic markers that were gathered from over 170 sites around the world.

Among the aspects that were observed by the team were the pollen levels. Through the statics collected by this approach, the expert found that poplar trees replaced prehistoric pine forests after the firestorm. Poplar trees would grow on barren terrains, even if a cataclysmic fire caused the blank area.

According to the authors, additional clues may have also been left in space. These chunks are likely to have been hidden 13,000 years ago in the vast collection of rocks hovering around the solar system.

Young Dryas Fire Triggered a Major Ice Age

Common elements from asteroids and comets, such as platinum, were also discovered from the dust samples. The high concentration of the chemicals was found alongside the concentrations of combustion aerosols, which manifests when biomass such as nitrate, ammonium, and other elements was burning.

Because of the firestorm, the glaciers reappeared, food became scarce, and many plants died. Early civilizations were pushed to adapt to intense living conditions while facing a massive population decline.

Melott said their computations imply that damage was inflicted to the ozone layer. This caused the ancient people to incur various negative health effects, including skin cancer. All in all, the fragments from the comet resulted in an event known as the Younger Dryas period. The abnormal temperature was also responsible for changing the currents of Earth's oceans.

Melott explained that even though the theory was built by several conclusive pieces of evidence and was a potentially major event, some experts still have contrasting views over the matter. The author said that, whatever the case, the clues of the Younger Drays point to the comet impact, and the idea is still considered a hypothesis. The initial and supporting studies were published in The Journal of Geology.

Check out more news and information on Geology in Science Times.