Evidence of the Clovis Age Comet at Sheriden Cave,
Ohio
Ken
Tankersley (Anthropology Department, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati,
Ohio, USA)
2009 Midwest Chapter of the Friends of Mineralogy
Symposium and Field Conference (Geology Department of Miami University, Oxford,
Ohio, USA)
5 September 2009
Sheriden
Cave is in Wyandot County, Ohio, near Carey.
The
Sheriden Cave area is a flat, featureless landscape that has experienced severe
glaciation.
Prior
to the mid-1980s, there were no caves in this area.
In
summer 1988, Ohio was in severe drought but one area in Wyandot County remained
green - a circular area. A sinkhole/cave and sediments acted as a wick -
water was drawn upward and kept the grass green. The property owner used
a clam bucket to dig - found Sheriden Cave. All Wyandot County caves are
sediment-filled.
The
Sheriden Pit is a sediment-filled sinkhole leading to a cave.
Inside,
a plethora of extinct fauna was found - >70 species of animals and
plants. Lots of records at this site. Also found a flakestone
artifact - no one cared, though.
There
are many caves like this south of the Mason-Dixon Line, but very few north of
that.
Did
National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded digging at Sheriden Cave. The
bones in the cave were very fresh - they were still greasy - collagen-rich and
DNA-rich.
There
are other caves around the Sheriden Cave entrance.
Flat-headed
peccary remains from Sheriden Cave are the youngest on the planet that have
been dated.
There
is unambiguous evidence of human activity - bone artifacts, a Clovis point
(fluted point).
So,
here's an opportunity to test the Clovis Comet Hypothesis at Sheriden Cave,
Ohio.
All
artifacts were found together in a very small area.
Sheriden
Cave now is a pile of dirt from the dug-out cave.
Also
found a butchered turtle.
Why
humans used the cave - food resources (animals go in & can’t get out),
shelter, cache site.
Radiocarbon
time does not equal sidereal time. Cosmic rays from supernovas are not
constant through time. Ex: 11 ky radiocarbon date = 13 ky actual
date)
13
ky = right at Clovis time; Sheriden Cave bone artifacts date to this time.
Found
microdiamonds (nannodiamonds) & lonsdaleite & shattered microdiamonds
(most are shattered - impact diamonds). These don’t occur below or above
the Clovis layer.
Found
nanno-sized pyrite (reducing environment).
Found
carbon & iron spherules - many with fullerenes.
Diamonds
- ~400 ppb, range in size from 0.5 m to 0.5 mm.
Carbon
spherules - ~148/kg, range in size from 100 m to 1 mm.
Magnetic
spherules - >100/kg, range in size from 20-100 m.
Magnetic
grains - 2.5 g/kg, range in size up to ~300 m. Many of these look like micrometeorites.
Glacial
diamonds (also gold & sivler) - are found in Late Pleistocene black sands
of Ohio. These are terrestrial diamonds - much larger than the
microdiamonds/nannodiamonds - they are not lonsdaleite.
All
these things (except glacial diamonds) are found in the vicinity of a charcoal
layer. The charcoal layer dates to 12.9 ± 0.1 ky. Have burned
animals & plants at this time.
The
charcoal horizon marks the Late Pleistocene extinction event. Megamammals
disappear after this.
Well,
at Sheriden Cave, only 2 animals go extinct at the charcoal horizon - small
animals continued and medium-sized animals mostly go through - they moved north
or are still here (Ex: amphibians, fish spp.).
Don’t
forget little creatures. Every species of tree there at Clovis time is
still here. Every species of reptile alive at the Clovis layer is still
around. Only 2 species go extinct at this impact at Sheriden Cave.
Clovis
Impact - no extinction, but accelerated climate change.
The
charcoal layer from the Clovis Comet is considered to be the marker for the
onset of the Younger Dryas.
The
Clovis Comet possibly hit in Hudson Bay - there’s an island there with odd
geology - a cryptoexplosion structure.
The
Cape York Meteorite impact dates to this age.
Some
Pleistocene lacustrine deposits have been identified as having a nannodiamond
layer.