Journey to the End in a Way

1996/07/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronomia

In many moments of life you are put your heart in a vibration. Something touches some corner of the interior and is there, the nerves dancing. Objectively, it is like many other things that has impacted you, that you would pass without looking at the second.

That's what happened to me last February. From The Planetary Society I received a letter, apparently similar to many others. I opened it. I started reading above. The title written in yellow paper, Journey to the End of an Era (Era baten Amaiera Bidaia), however, caught me and I began to read it carefully. For the tenth line my heart was jumping, it seemed to me that I was warming my head and before the opportunity of my life. I had to go there, what a demon!

The letter began:

“Sixty-five million years ago much of the Earth’s species, including dinosaurs, disappeared, marking the end of the Cretaceous and the beginning of the Tertiary era.

In 1980 a group of scientists led by Luis and Walter Álvarez discovered that in the border area of Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) there were large abnormal concentrations of iridium. Iridium is scarce on Earth, but it is a typical element of asteroids and comets… These discoveries provoked the formulation of the theory that an asteroid of at least 10 km in diameter struck the Earth and caused the clouds of sand and dust to penetrate the atmosphere, surrounding the planet and blocking sunlight. This scenario prevented photosynthesis and caused the reduction of terrestrial surface temperature, the disappearance of K/T masses.

However, some scientists claim that before and after the impact (tens or hundreds of years) there were significant extinctions and propose multiple impacts or other causes.”

The proposal was to participate in a scientific expedition that seeks to collect data that can give birth to this debate. The partners of The Planetary Society were invited and 20 people would be chosen among all requests received. As I said above, I fell mine and have been chosen to my surprise.

The expedition will take place in Italy, specifically in the Apennines, in the second half of August. The expedition has three main objectives: on the one hand, to improve the time measurement pathways in the geological register; on the other, to analyze in detail the change of plankton after the K/T crisis and compare it with other places on Earth (this comparison is very important to better understand the evolution of our planet and life); and finally, to carry out a detailed chronology of the magnetic changes of the K/T border. We are therefore facing a geological expedition.

What does a chemist do? The truth is that my and that of other nineteen people will be supportive. How? As we have been told so far, two main types are the registration of places and drill samples and sample preparation for further analysis. In some way, we will have to be available to geologists Adriana Ocampo, Kevin Pope and Al Fisher, who lead the expedition.

A nice experience without a doubt, another way to spend the holidays, meet people, etc. You can know what this trip will give. Do not hesitate.