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  3. IMPACTS AND MASS EXTINCTIONS (1) Meteorites and impact craters bear witness to the fact that large impacts occasionally occu

IMPACTS AND MASS EXTINCTIONS (1) Meteorites and impact craters bear witness to the fact that large impacts occasionally occu

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问题                                         IMPACTS AND MASS EXTINCTIONS
    (1) Meteorites and impact craters bear witness to the fact that large impacts occasionally occur on Earth. Barringer Meteor Crater in the northern Arizona desert of the United States formed about 50,000 years ago when a metallic impactor roughly 50 meters across crashed to Earth with the explosive power of a 20-megaton hydrogen bomb. Although the crater is only slightly more than one kilometer across, an area covering hundreds of square kilometers was probably battered by the blast and ejecta—the debris ejected or displaced during the formation of an impact crater. Far bigger impacts have occurred, sometimes with catastrophic consequences for life on Earth.
    (2) While collecting geological samples in Italy in 1978, the father-son team of Luis and Walter Alvarez discovered a thin layer of dark sediment that had apparently been deposited 65 million years ago—at about the same time that the dinosaurs and many other organisms suddenly became extinct. Subsequent studies found similar sediment deposited at the same time at many sites around the world. Careful analysis showed this worldwide sediment layer to be rich in iridium, an element that is rare on Earth’s surface. But iridium is common in primitive meteorites, which led the Alvarezes to a stunning conclusion: the extinction of the dinosaurs was caused by the impact of an asteroid or comet. This conclusion was not immediately accepted and still generates some controversy, but it now seems clear that a major impact coincided with the death of the dinosaurs. While the dinosaurs were the most famous victims of this mass extinction, it seems that up to 99 percent of all living things were killed and that 75 percent of all species living on Earth were wiped out at that time.
    (3) How could an impact lead to mass extinction? The amount of iridium deposited worldwide suggests that the impactor must have been about 10 kilometers across. After a decade-long search, scientists identified what appears to be the impact crater from the event. Located off the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, it is 200 kilometers across, which is close to what one would expect for a 10-kilometer impactor, and dates to 65 million years ago. Further evidence that the Yucatan crater is the right one comes from the distribution of small glassy spheres that formed when the molten impact ejecta solidified as it rained back to Earth. [A] More of these glassy spheres are found in regions near the crater, and careful study of their distribution suggests that the impactor crashed to Earth at a slight angle. [B] These pieces of once molten rock are evidence of an explosion powerful enough to instantly melt bedrock and propel it far from its origin. [C] The impact almost immediately sent a shower of debris raining across much of North and South America and generated huge waves that may have sloshed more than 1,000 kilometers inland. [D] Many North American species thus may have been wiped out shortly after impact. For the rest of the world, death may have come more slowly. Heat from the impact and returning ejecta probably ignited wildfires in forests around the world. Evidence of wildfires is found in the large amount of soot (a black powdery form of carbon produced when coal, wood, or oil is burned) that is also present in the iridium-rich sediment from 65 million years ago. The impact also sent huge quantities of dust high into the stratosphere, where it remained for several years, blocking out sunlight, cooling the surface, and affecting atmospheric chemistry. Plants died for lack of sunlight, and effects propagated throughout the food chain.
    (4) Perhaps the most, astonishing fact is not that 75 percent of all species died, but that 25 percent survived. Among the survivors were a few small, rodent-like mammals. These mammals may have survived because they lived in underground burrows and managed to store enough food to outlast the long spell of cold, dark days. Small mammals had first arisen at about the same time as the dinosaurs, more than 100 million years earlier. But the sudden disappearance of the dominant dinosaurs made these mammals dominant.
According to paragraph 3, the shower of debris created by the impact suggests that the impactor________.
选项 A、was 200 kilometers across
B、landed about 1,000 kilometers inland
C、had a molten core that solidified immediately as the impactor hit Earth
D、was probably responsible for the immediate extinction of many North American species
答案D
解析 本题属于事实信息题，问从由撞击引起的碎片雨可推测哪项关于撞击天体的论述是正确的。原文第3段第9句提到，这场碎片雨使得北美洲的许多物种可能在撞击发生后不久就灭绝了，对应D项。A项“直径有200千米”利用第3段第4句提到的陨石坑大小来设置的干扰项。B项利用原文第3段第8句中的1,000 kilometers inland来设置干扰，但该句说的是产生了可能淹没1,000多千米内陆土地的巨型海浪，而不是说该撞击天体在内陆1,000千米处着陆。C项“当天体撞击地球时，其熔融状态的内核迅速固化”没有依据。
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