Biological Processes Associated with Impact Events (Impact Studies)

The biological effects of asteroid and comet impacts have been widely viewed as primarily destructive. The role of an impactor in the K/T boundary extinctions has had a particularly important influence on thinking concerning the role of impacts in ecological and biological changes. th During the 10 and final workshop of the ESF IMPACT program during March 2003, we sought to investigate the wider aspects of the involvement of impact events in biological processes, including the beneficial role of these events from the prebiotic through to the ecosystem level. The ESF IMPACT programme (1998-2003) was an interdisciplinary effort that is aimed at understanding impact processes and their effects on the Earth environment, including environmental, geological and biological changes. The IMPACT programme has 15 member states and the activities of the programme range from workshops to short courses on topics such as impact stratigraphy, shock metamorphism, etc. The program has also awarded mobility grants and been involved in the development of teaching aids and numerous publications, including this one. The Potential for Survival of Organic Matter in Fluid Inclusions at Impact Sites....Pages 1-20 Geomicrobiology of Impact-Altered Rocks....Pages 21-40 Bacterial Spores Survive Simulated Meteorite Impact....Pages 41-53 Impact-Generated Hydrothermal System — Constraints from the Large Paleoproterozoic Sudbury Crater, Canada....Pages 55-100 Comparison of Bosumtwi Impact Crater (Ghana) and Crater Lake Volcanic Caldera (Oregon, USA): Implications for Biotic Recovery after Catastrophic Events....Pages 101-120 Paleobiologic Effects of the Late Cretaceous Wetumpka Marine Impact, a 7.6-km-Diameter Impact Structure, Gulf Coastal Plain, USA....Pages 121-142 The Sweet Aftermath: Environmental Changes and Biotic Restoration Following the Marine Mjølnir Impact (Volgian-Ryazanian Boundary, Barents Shelf)....Pages 143-178 Guembelitria irregularis Bloom at the K-T Boundary: Morphological Abnormalities Induced by Impact-related Extreme Environmental Stress?....Pages 179-196 Unravelling the Cretaceous-Paleogene (KT) Turnover, Evidence from Flora, Fauna and Geology....Pages 197-219 Impacts and Wildfires - An Analysis of the K-T Event....Pages 221-243 Continental Vertebrate Extinctions at the Triassic-Jurassic and Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundaries: a Comparison....Pages 245-256 Geochemical Search for Impact Signatures in Possible Impact-generated Units Associated with the Jurassic-Cretaceous Boundary in southern England and northern France....Pages 257-286 New Evidence for Impact from the Suvasvesi South Structure, Central East Finland....Pages 287-307 Kärdla Impact (Hiiumaa Island, Estonia) — Ejecta Blanket and Environmental Disturbances....Pages 309-333 Sediments and Impact Rocks Filling the Boltysh Impact Crater....Pages 335-358 Stones in the Sky: From the Main Belt to Earth-Crossing Orbits....Pages 359-376

the Diversity Of Papers Presented In This Volume Attest To The Fact That Impact Cratering Is Very Much A Biological Process. This Volume Is The Tenth In A Series Of Books Resulting From The Activities Of The Scientific Programme, Response Of The Earth System To Impact Processes (impact), By The European Science Foundation. The Papers Were Presented At An International Meeting At King's College, Cambridge In 2003. These Papers Investigate The Effects Of Asteroid And Comet Impacts On A Diversity Of Biological And Evolutionary Processes Including The Survival Of Organics And Microbial Ecosystems To The Extinction Of Organisms.

Tenth in a series of books resulting from the activities of the scientific programme, "Response of the Earth System to Impact Processes" (IMPACT), by the European Science Foundation. The papers in this volume investigate the effects of asteroid and comet impacts on a diversity of biological and evolutionary processes