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Palaeoclimate

The riddle of the clays

Rising carbon levels contributed to profound climate change 55 million years ago. Where did that extra carbon come from? One proposal — a cometary impact — is rebuffed by two analyses of magnetic particles in clay sediment cores from New Jersey.

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Figure 1: Laying down the sediments of New Jersey.

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Dickens, G. The riddle of the clays. Nature Geosci 1, 86–88 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo118

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