Abstract
Growing evidence indicates the ~3.95–3.85 Ga-old Late Heavy Bombardment in the Earth-Moon system was succeeded by intermittent large impacts by asteroids of >10 km-diameter, represented by well-preserved multiple impact ejecta units in the oldest well-preserved supracrustal greenstone sequences in South Africa and Western Australia.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Baldwin RB (1985) Relative and absolute ages of individual craters and the rates of infalls on the Moon in the post-imbrium period. Icarus 61:63–91
BTVP—Basaltic Volcanism Project (1981). Pergamon Press Inc, New York, p 1286
Chyba CF (1993) The violent environment of the origin of life: progress and uncertainties Geochim et Cosmochim Acta 57:3351–3358
Chyba CF, Sagan C (1996) Comets as the source of prebiotic organic molecules for the early Earth. In: Thomas PJ, Chyba CF, McKay CP (eds) Comets and the origin and evolution of life. Springer, New York, pp 147–174
Culler TS, Becker TA, Muller RA, Renne PR (2000) Lunar impact history from 39Ar/40Ar dating of glass spherules. Science 287:1785–1789
Da Silva JJRF, Williams RJP (1991) The biological chemistry of the elements: the inorganic chemistry of life. Oxford University Press, Oxford, p 600
Delsemme AH (2000) Cometary origin of the biosphere: 1999 Kuiper prize lecture. Icarus 146:313–325
Glikson AY, Allen C (2004) Iridium anomalies and fractionated siderophile element patterns in impact ejecta, Brockman Iron Formation, Hamersley Basin, Western Australia: evidence for a major asteroid impact in simatic crustal regions of the early Proterozoic earth. Earth Planet Sci Lett 20:247–264
Kyte FT (2002) Tracers of extraterrestrial components in sediments and inferences for Earth’s accretion history. Geol Soc Am Sp Pap 356:21–38
Lowe DR, Byerly GR (2010) Did the LHB end not with a bang but with a whimper? 41st Lunar Planet Sci Conf 2563 pdf
McCulloch MT, Bennett VC (1994) Progressive growth of the Earth’s continental crust and depleted mantle: geochemical constraints. Geochim et Cosmochim Acta 58:4717–4738
Mojzsis SJ, Harrison TM (2000) Vestiges of a beginning: clues to the emergent biosphere recorded in the oldest known sedimentary rocks. GSA Today 10:1–6
Mojzsis SJ, Harrison TM (2002) Establishment of a 3.83-Ga magmatic age for the Akilia tonalite southern West Greenland. Earth Planet Sci Lett 202:563–576
Mojzsis SJ, Harrison MT, Pidgeon RT (2001) Oxygen isotope evidence from ancient zircons for liquid water at the Earth’s surface 4300 Myr ago. Nature 409:178–180
Muller RA (1993) Technical report LBL-34168. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley CA
Nutman AP, Friend CRL (2006) Re-evaluation of oldest life evidence: infrared absorbance spectroscopy and petrography of apatites in ancient metasediments, Akilia. W Greenland Precamb Res 147:100–106
Peck WH, Valley JW, Wilde SA, Graham CM (2001) Oxygen isotope ratios and rare earth elements in 3.3 to 4.4 Ga zircons: Ion microprobe evidence for high d18O continental crust and oceans in the Early Archean. Geochim et Cosmochim Acta 65:4215–4229
Ringwood AE (1986) Origin of the Earth and Moon. Nature 322:323–328
Ringwood AE, Green DH (1966) An experimental investigation of the gabbro-eclogite transformation and some geophysical implications. Tectonophysics 3:383–427
Ryder G (1990) Lunar samples lunar accretion and the early bombardment of the Moon. Eos (Trans Am Geophys Union) 71:313–322
Ryder G (1991) Accretion and bombardment in the Earth–Moon system: the Lunar record. Lunar Planet Sci Instit Contrib 746:42–43
Ryder G (1997) Coincidence in the time of the imbrium basin impact and Apollo 15 Kreep volcanic series: impact induced melting? Lunar Planet Sci Instit Contrib 790:61–62
Schoenberg R, Kamber B, Collerson KD, Moorbath (2002) Tungsten isotope evidence from ~3.8 Gyr metamorphosed sediments for early meteorite bombardment of the Earth. Nature 418:403–405
Simonson BM, Davies D, Wallace M, Reeves S, Hassler SW (1998) Iridium anomaly but no shocked quartz from Late Archaean microkrystite layer: oceanic impact ejecta? Geology 26:195–198
Taylor SR, McLennan SM (1983) Geochemistry of Early Proterozoic sedimentary rocks and the Archaean—Proterozoic boundary. Geol Soc Am Mem 161:119–131
Uwins PJR (1998) Novel nano-organisms from Australian sandstones. Am Mineral 83:1541–1550
Wald G (1964) The origin of life. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 52:595–611
Wilde SA, Valley JW, Peck WH, Graham CM (2001) Evidence from detrital zircons for the existence of continental crust and oceans on the Earth 4.4 Gyr ago. Nature 409:175–178
Wilhelms DE (1987) The geological history of the Moon. US Geol Surv Prof Pap 1348 p 302
Zahnle K, Grinspoon D (1990) Comet dust as a source of amino acids at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary. Nature 348:157–160
Zahnle K, Sleep NH (1997) Impacts and the early evolution of life In: Comets and the Origin and Evolution of Life. In: Thomas P, Chyba C, McKay C (eds) Comets and the origin of life, pp 175–208. Springer
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Glikson, A.Y. (2013). Lunar Impacts and the Late Heavy Bombardment in the Earth–Moon System. In: The Asteroid Impact Connection of Planetary Evolution. SpringerBriefs in Earth Sciences. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6328-9_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6328-9_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-6327-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6328-9
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)