What They Discovered

The uniqueness of the Tanis fossil bed stems from two key factors. Firstly, it seems to have been deposited with remarkable speed. The orientation of the objects within the site is vertical and mixed, suggesting a significant single event that combined both animal and plant materials. Although Tanis is not located near the Chicxulub impact site, it is surrounded by tektites—glassy fragments formed from molten debris resulting from meteorite impacts. By analyzing the trajectory and speed of debris ejected from Chicxulub, scientists have been able to estimate how quickly these tektites settled at Tanis.

The team examined various meteor debris types at Tanis and determined that they would have landed in successive waves based on their angles of ejection. They concluded that debris would have begun to fall approximately 13 minutes after the impact and continued for about two hours. The preservation of tektite impacts alongside fossil remains provides compelling evidence that these events occurred in close temporal proximity.

Fish species that once thrived in the warm Western Interior Seaway, a region now known as Montana, likely perished rapidly due to the catastrophic conditions. The Chicxulub impact may have triggered a global earthquake of unprecedented magnitude, causing what is termed a seiche—a phenomenon that generates standing waves in a body of water. This event could have unleashed 35-foot waves capable of inundating the local terrain. Many of the trees identified by DePalma in the chaotic fossil mix contain spherules of meteorite debris preserved in amber. This impact glass closely resembles samples collected from the Chicxulub crater.

The fish fossils uncovered at Tanis even contain microtektites lodged in their gills. The imagery is stark: mere moments after the asteroid's impact, the low-lying area would have been violently shaken by waves, even as the sky rained fire. Trees would have either toppled into the water or ignited in flames, while fish suffocated in a deluge of sediment. The fossil assemblage at Tanis presents an extraordinary mix of creatures—an outcome one might expect from a cataclysmic event where ecological systems were abruptly disrupted.

DePalma has cataloged various other significant finds at the site, including submerged ant nests with drowned ants, potential wasp and mammal burrows, shark teeth, and the remains of large sea turtles. The discovery of at least three new fish species, a gigantic ginkgo leaf, and several new species of both animals and plants further highlights the site's importance.

By correlating the timing of the Tanis events with the known Chicxulub impact and the characteristics of the deposits, DePalma and his colleagues, including Professor David Burnham from the University of Kansas, have constructed a remarkable timeline. The combination of preserved tektites and the chaotic fossil layers strongly suggests that these events were nearly simultaneous. Although further validation from the scientific community is necessary—and debates are likely to continue for years—this discovery may provide a specific geological record detailing the early hours following the extinction event marking the end of the Cretaceous and the beginning of the Paleogene.

The New Yorker article mentions that while DePalma has a history of lofty claims, there remains the possibility that his findings could indeed be as revolutionary as he asserts. A precisely dated fossil record of the impact event, even from a single location, could illuminate numerous questions regarding Earth's conditions immediately following the asteroid strike.

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