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Did a gamma-ray burst initiate the late Ordovician mass extinction?. Adrian L. Melott 1 , B.S. Lieberman 2 , C.M. Laird 1 , L.D. Martin 3 , M.V. Medvedev 1 , B.C. Thomas 1 , J.K. Cannizzo 4 , N. Gehrels 4 , C.H. Jackman 5, R.S. Stolarski 5 , & D.P. Hogan 1 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Did a gamma-ray burst initiate the late Ordovician
mass extinction?
Adrian L. Melott1,
B.S. Lieberman2, C.M. Laird1, L.D. Martin3, M.V. Medvedev1, B.C. Thomas1,
J.K. Cannizzo4, N. Gehrels4, C.H. Jackman5, R.S. Stolarski5, & D.P. Hogan1
1.Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas2.Departments of Geology and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas3.Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas4.Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center5.Laboratory for Atmospheres, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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Mass Extinctionsrise of mammals
• Cretaceous (About 65 Mya; TV coverage)
first birds
• Triassic (About 208 Mya.)
first dinosaurs; first mammals
• Permian (About 245 Mya; the worst mass extinction)
first reptiles
• Devonian (About 360 Mya.)
first amphibians
Ordovician (About 440 Mya)
first fish; first life on land
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Vela Satellite
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GAMMA-RAY SKY
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Isotropy of BATSE GRBs
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Gamma Ray BurstsDistances:
Cosmological (Gpc ~ 1025-26 m)
Power: ~ 5 x 1044 W (comparable to rest of Universe)
Duration: ~ 10 seconds (+ afterglow)
Photon Energy: power laws with peak at
~ 100's keV—few Mev
Beamed? Describe using Isotropic Approximation—terrestrial effects depend on incident flux
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Beamed or Isotropic
Cassiopeia A (about 350y)
M87 Jet
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Supernova – GRB ImpactComparison
Object Power #/gal/y <power*P>SN (total) 1036 W 3x10-2 3x1034
SN (L) 1034 W 3x10-2 3x1030 (months)SN(ν) 3 Gy interval for catastrophe (Collar, PRL 76, 999 rescaled)GRB (L) 5x1044 W 3x10-8 >1037 (burst)
Scaling from the evolution of the star formation rate, a GRB @ 2 kpc is a conservative estimate of the most probable nearest event to the Earth in the last 1 Gy. Primary uncertainty recent GRB rate—pushing uncertainties the other way: 3 times closer
Rapid (10s) deposition: I ~ 100 to 1 MJ/m2 in X and γ rays
Results given later based on the lower fluence above
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Biological Effects of Gamma Radiation
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AtmosphericRadiative Transport
Opaque to gamma (100 m mean free path at STP)Energy deposition: 99+% into chemistry
--> N2 , O
2
But, ~ 2x10-3 reaches ground* as damaging UV (2900 -3200 Å)Our 2 kpc GRB: 20 W/m2 in “dangerous” UVB
““Don't go out without your sunglasses!”Don't go out without your sunglasses!”Still, the bigger effects are long-term, not immediate burst Still, the bigger effects are long-term, not immediate burst
effectseffects
Smith, Scalo, & Wheeler (2004) Icarus 171, 229 (astro-ph/0308311 )
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Atmospheric ChemistryUsual: N
2, O
2, O
3, ...
Possible products N2O
5, NO
2, N
2O
4, N
2O
3, NO, N
2O
Primary effects1. Opacity - NO
2 (visble, brown)
2. Nitric Acid Rain (fertilizer?)3. Ozone depletion (UV shield destruction) NO + O
3 --> NO
2 + O
2
NO
2 + O --> NO + O
2
Net: O3 + O --> O
2 + O
2
N2O – whipped cream, laughing gas
NO – smog --> NO2
NO2 - smog, brown, nitric acid 3NO
2 + H
2O --> 2HNO
3 + NO
( N2O
3 – unstable) (N
2O
5 – nitric
acid)
Strong ozone depletion (years) leads to solar UVB increase
Thomas et al (astro-ph/0411284):The following 3 plots show results from simulating the
atmospheric effect of a typical GRB beamed at the Earth from a distance of about 2 kpc, at the spring equinox
incident over the equator.
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Ozone depletion after GRB irradiation of atmosphere
Pre- and post-burst O3 column densities in units of 1018/cm2
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UV irradiation convolved with biological weighting function for
DNA damage—GRB effect
DNA damage is normalized to the pre-burst annual global mean.
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NO2 OPACITY
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http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994198
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Environmental UV EffectsSolar UVB, 290-320 nm --90% normally absorbed by O
3
Modest increases in UVB are often lethal-even an increase of order 20-30% for marine organisms
UV is attenuated by water depth 10's of meters (clear), or a few meters (w/particulates, dissolved organics)
Expect depth dependence of extinction (note: many larvae live in plankton, even when adult forms do not)
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Other Effects of GRB• NO2 – Acid Rain, comparable to anthropogenic
acidity levels (5 months’ acid rain in upstate NY)
• Climate Cooling (opacity)—roughly 2% average reduction in sunlight for a few months—greater at the poles.
• After the extinction, nitrate fertilizer? (a few g/m2, comparable or greater than annual rate of nitrogen fixing in present biosphere; not far from lawn rate)
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Ordovician--2nd Largest Mass Extinction
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www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/ordovician/ordovician.html
Courtesy W. Berry, UC Museum of Paleontology
www.scotese.com/newpage1.htm
Courtesy C. Scotese, PALEOMAP
Ordovician
Candidate Extinction
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Predicted as GRB Effects
Extinction of shallow (not deep) water organisms !
Extinction of free-swimming organisms !
Extinction of surface floaters plankton/planktonic larval forms !
Nitric acid rain ?
Reduction of solar radiation – cooling ?
Extinctions begin with GRB !
No iridium layer due to asteroid, no 244Pu residue from nearby
supernova, but possible excess nitrates
Late Ordovician Data
Yes (correlation)
Yes (correlation)
Yes (correlation)
Productivity oscillation in biosphere possibly related to nitrate boost.
Rise of life on land after extinction.
Yes – glaciation needed “kick”
Extinctions preceeded glaciation and began with plankton
Unknown (not yet observed)
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CONCLUSIONS• A strong GRB irradiation of
the Earth is probable during the time interval since O2-enrichment of the atmosphere.
• Such an event would deplete the ozone layer, exposing organisms to dangerous levels of solar UVB.
• At least one mass extinction shows characteristics compatible with GRB effects.
We have no smoking gun. However, this is a falsifiable hypothesis.
Melott et al., Int’l J. of Astrobiology 3, 55 (2004) (astro-ph/0309415)
Thomas et al., ApJL submitted (astro-ph/0411284)
Research supported by NASA
KU Astrobiology: http://kusmos.phsx.ku.edu/~melott/Astrobiology.htm