Emily Chan
“Over millions of years, material from this ring gradually fell to Earth, creating the spike in meteorite impacts observed in the geological record,” Tomkins said.
“We also see that layers in sedimentary rocks from this period contain extraordinary amounts of meteorite debris.”
The team discovered that the debris was common in limestone deposits across Europe, Russia, and China. They were exposed to much less space radiation than meteorites that fall to Earth today.
The deposits also revealed signs of several tsunamis that occurred during the Ordovician period. They are best explained by a large, passing asteroid that broke up.
The team does not have enough evidence to confirm that Earth had rings. If Earth did have a ring, it would have greatly affected the climate by casting a shadow over parts of the planet’s surface, leading to global cooling.
The research has been published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
