The terminal Cretaceous event: Circumterrestrial rings of tektite glass particles?

Abstract

It is proposed to regard the terminal Cretaceous event as similar to the radiolarian extinction event in the late Eocene: the result of a volcanic eruption or series of eruptions on the moon. Some glassy ash, lapilli and blocks from these eruptions fell to the earth; some, in geocentric orbit, formed clouds around the earth. In accordance with current theory, it is found that the clouds in orbit would evolve into sets of rings, which would last a few hundred thousand to a few million years, and would perturb the climate of the earth. One such eruption apparently included iridium-bearing material, perhaps from the deep interior of the moon. The hypothesis permits a reconciliation between the evidence for the catastrophic intervention of extra-terrestrial masses in the earth environment, and the evidence for gradual (though rapid) change of flora and fauna at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary. The formation of the E-ring of Saturn by ejecta from the Saturnian satellite Enceladus may have been analogous. The theory might be tested by studies of diurnal layering in molluscan shells.