Movies, microtectites and microscope work - lockdown lab update 2021
Figure 1. With the planet-killing comet action/disaster movie, Greenland (2020) now arriving on Amazon Prime - the first week of February 2021 also allowed me to get up and personal with the K/Pg boundary samples of ODP 1262 which have been documented to also contain microtectites (Zachos et al., 2004). These are spherical grains which represent the distal deposition of ejected material from the Chicxulub impact - a process which is shown directly after impact in the Greenland (2020) trailer (see above).
Figure 2. Sample 1246 which corresponds to material from 216.76 Metres Compensate Depth (MCD), 5cm above the K/Pg boundary at ODP 1262. The single black grain amongst the foraminifera could be a possible ?microtectite.
Figure 3. Sample 1231 which corresponds to material from 216.61 Metres Compensate Depth (MCD), 11cm above the K/Pg boundary. The four black grains in the centre panel could also be possible ?microtectites.
The Greenland (2020) film arrives on Amazon Prime Friday, 5th February 2021 (see trailer link below). It will be interesting to see how the events of the film compare against the latest studies of the Chicxulub impact in terms of the short and long term consequences.
Wishing you a happy and safe 2021
Kind Regards
Matthew Staitis
Comments