Impact Theory of Mass Extinctions and the Invertebrate Fossil Record

@article{Alvarez1984ImpactTO,
  title={Impact Theory of Mass Extinctions and the Invertebrate Fossil Record},
  author={Walter Alvarez and Erle G. Kauffman and Finn Surlyk and Luis W. Alvarez and Frank. Asaro and Helen V. Michel},
  journal={Science},
  year={1984},
  volume={223},
  pages={1135 - 1141}
}
There is much evidence that the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary was marked by a massive meteorite impact. Theoretical consideration of the consquences of such an impact predicts sharp extinctions in many groups of animals precisely at the boundary. Paleontological data clearly show gradual declines in diversity over the last 1 to 10 million years in various invertebrate groups.Reexamination of data from careful studies of the best sections shows that, in addition to undergoing the decline, four… 
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145 Citations

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The Eocene-Oligocene boundary is widely cited as the "other" example (besides the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary) of a known relationship between mass extinctions and bolide impacts. The stratigraphic…

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...

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