Disc dark matter in the Galaxy and potential cycles of extraterrestrial impacts, mass extinctions and geological events

Abstract

A cycle in the range of 26–30Myr has been reported in mass extinctions, and terrestrial impact cratering may exhibit a similar cycle of 31 ± 5Myr. These cycles have been attributed to the Sun’s vertical oscillations through the Galactic disc, estimated to take from ∼30 to 42Myr between Galactic plane crossings. Near the Galactic mid-plane, the Solar system’s Oort Cloud comets could be perturbed by Galactic tidal forces, and possibly a thin dark matter (DM) disc, whichmightproduceperiodiccometshowersandextinctionsontheEarth.PassageoftheEarth through especially dense clumps of DM, composed of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) in the Galactic plane, could also lead to heating in the core of the planet through capture and subsequent annihilation of DM particles. This new source of periodic heating in the Earth’s interior might explain a similar ∼30Myr periodicity observed in terrestrial geologic activity, which may also be involved in extinctions. These results suggest that cycles of geological and biological evolution on the Earth may be partly controlled by the rhythms of Galactic dynamics.