Rampino and Stothers 1986

Rampino, M.R., and R.B. Stothers, 1986: Geologic periodicities and the Galaxy. In The Galaxy and the Solar System. R. Smoluchowski, J.N. Bahcall, and M.S. Matthews, Eds. University of Arizona Press, pp. 241-259.

New geologic and astronomical developments are reviewed that have recently led to the proposal of various Galactic theories to explain the temporal pattern of impact craters on earth. Linear and harmonic time series analyses have revealed that two dominant periodicities about equal to 33±3 Myr and 260±25 Myr underlie the geologic record of terrestrial impact cratering and global tectonic phenomena. It is argued that purely terrestrial mechanisms cannot account for the cratering cycles as being preservational artifacts; cratering rather appears to influence tectonism, possibly through perturbations of mantle convection. Galactic models proposed to explain the two long-term periodicities are reviewed critically. The most likely explanation for the 33 Myr cycle involves the comparatively stable half period of vertical oscillation of the solar system about the Galactic plane. The 260 Myr cycle may be related to rare encounters with Galactic spiral arms during the revolution of the solar system around the Galactic center.

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Rampino, M.R., and Stothers, R.B.: Geologic periodicities and the Galaxy, in: The Galaxy and the Solar System, edited by Smoluchowski, R., Bahcall, J.N., and Matthews, M.S., 241-259, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona, 1986.

Rampino, M.R., and R.B. Stothers (1986), Geologic periodicities and the Galaxy, in The Galaxy and the Solar System, edited by R. Smoluchowski, J.N. Bahcall, and M.S. Matthews, pp. 241-259, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona.

Rampino, M.R., and R.B. Stothers, 1986: Geologic periodicities and the Galaxy. In The Galaxy and the Solar System. R. Smoluchowski, J.N. Bahcall, and M.S. Matthews, Eds. University of Arizona Press, pp. 241-259.

Rampino, M.R., & Stothers, R.B. 1986, in The Galaxy and the Solar System, ed. Smoluchowski, R., Bahcall, J.N., & Matthews, M.S., 241 (Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press).

Rampino MR, Stothers RB. Geologic periodicities and the Galaxy. In: Smoluchowski R, Bahcall JN, Matthews MS, editors. The Galaxy and the Solar System, pp. 241-259. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press; 1986.

M.R. Rampino, R.B. Stothers, In The Galaxy and the Solar System, R. Smoluchowski, J.N. Bahcall, M.S. Matthews, Eds. (University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona, 1986), pp. 241-259.