David M. Granger (grangdm@mail.auburn.edu)

RENOWNED METEORITE EXPERT TO LECTURE AT AUBURN

AUBURN -- Peter Schultz, a geology professor at Brown University and a leading expert on meteorite impacts, will present two lectures at Auburn University on Friday, Feb. 26 as part of the AU Geology Seminar Series.

Schultz's first lecture will begin at noon at Petrie Hall, Room 118.

He will discuss evidence of meteorite impacts in Argentina more than 3 million years ago which may have cooled Earth's temperatures and made some species extinct.

Specifically, Schultz will talk about the discovery of sedimentary rocks that have yielded important clues about meteorite impacts and evidence of ancient climates, wind patterns and plant and animal life throughout the southern hemisphere.

"Peter's work in Argentina has established that, as a result of these meteorite (impacts), there is a large bowl-shaped basin in the eastern part of the country that has served as a repository for meteorite impact debris that has been formed over the last 10 million years or so," said Bill Hames, an assistant professor of geology at AU.

Hames co-authored a paper on the Argentine impact that was published in the Dec. 11, 1998, issue of Science magazine.

"This area provides the opportunity for impact scientists, paleontologists and other scientists to look at how a variety of factors have related together over a tremendous period of time," said Hames.

On Friday at 3 p.m. in Haley Center, Room 2182, Schultz will lecture on "A New Angle on the Effects of the Chicxulub Impact Event, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico."

"The angle of the impact (in Mexico) has been Peter's focus in his study of the crater on the Yucatan," Hames said. "Based upon the style of the crater that formed, its asymmetry, he has determined that the impact was from an asteroid that struck the earth at an angle of about 30 degrees. As a result, the destruction was distributed asymmetrically and affected North America a lot more than South America.

"The heat generated was particularly devastating. It was so great that it was able to generate spontaneous wildfires that may have covered large parts of the continent."

Schultz has written more than 50 scientific publications on meteorite impact events and cratering processes. He is the director of the Northeast Regional Planetary Data Center and has contributed to planned NASA Discovery missions, including the Deep Impact mission designed to probe the character of comets by impacting one with a large, high-speed projectile.

Schultz is also science coordinator for the NASA-Ames Vertical Gun Range, where impacts of different projectiles on certain materials at high rates of speed are studied. He uses these tests extensively in his research of meteorite impacts, Hames said.

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CONTACT: Bill Hames, 334-844-4881.

(MEDIA NOTE: Schultz will be available for interviews on Friday on a time-available basis. If interested, call Hames at 334/844-4881.)