The study, titled "Evidence of a 12,800-year-old Shallow Airburst Depression in Louisiana with Large Deposits of Shocked Quartz and Melted Materials", is a tour de force by 25 authors, including well-known names in the field such as James Kennett, Allen West, Christopher Moore, Malcolm LeCompte, and Marc Young — both of whom will be presenting this groundbreaking research live at Cosmic Summit 2025.
The paper reports the discovery of an anomalous 300-meter-long depression east of Perkins, Louisiana, filled with high concentrations of impact proxies: shocked quartz, meltglass, microspherules, carbon spherules, and metallic flakes. Most remarkably, the authors argue the site represents a shallow "touch-down" airburst crater — potentially North America's first documented YDB-age impact feature.
🔬 What They Found
- Shocked Quartz: Glass-filled planar fractures and deformation features — classic cosmic impact indicators.
- Hundreds of Billions of Microspherules: Found in situ within sediments dating to ~12,800 years BP.
- Over a Ton of Meltglass: Formed at temperatures exceeding 2200°C; includes melted zircon, kaolinite, and quartz.
- Carbon-Rich Spherules: Enriched in iridium, platinum, and osmium — elements associated with cosmic bodies.
- Oxygen-Depleted Metallic Flakes: Rare forms of native iron and wüstite common in extraterrestrial materials.