Nature 184, 44 - 45 (04 July 1959); doi:10.1038/184044b0

Origin of the Worzel Deep-Sea Ash

EDWARD ANDERS & D. NELSON LIMBER

Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies and Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
Yerkes Observatory, University of Chicago, Williams Bay, Wisconsin. May 27.

IN a recent paper¹, Worzel announced the discovery of an extensive ash deposit at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Ewing, Heezen and Ericson² have suggested in a companion paper that the deposit may well be of world-wide extent. If this should prove to be the case, the origin of the Worzel ash layer becomes a matter of extraordinary interest. The mass of a world-wide layer would be of the order of 1 10²⁰ gm., which exceeds by a factor of 300 the yield of the largest volcanic eruption recorded during historic times (Tambora, 1815). Moreover, the areal distribution of volcanic ash is usually quite limited². Worzel and Ewing et al. have therefore proposed the following events as possible sources of the ash: a single very large volcanic explosion, the simultaneous explosion of many volcanoes, a cometary collision, or some other catastrophic event involving bodies of cosmic origin.

1. Worzel, J. L. , Proc. U.S. Nat. Acad. Sci., 45, 349 (1959).
2. Ewing, M. , Heezen, B. C. , and Ericson, D. B. , Proc. U.S. Nat. Acad. Sci., 45, 355 (1959).
3. Öpik, E. , "Physics of Meteor Flight in the Atmosphere" (Interscience, 1958).
4. Reed, G. W. , and Turkevich, A. , Nature, 180, 594 (1957). | ISI | ChemPort |
5. Fireman, E. L. , and Schwarzer, D. , Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta, 11, 252 (1957). | ISI | ChemPort |
6. Öpik, E. , Proc. Roy. Irish Acad., A, 54, 165 (1951).
7. Fish, R. A. , Goles, G. G. , and Anders, E. (unpublished work).