Biological Processes Associated with Impact Events

Charles Cockell, Christian Koeberl, Iain Gilmour3540257357, 9783540257356, 9783540257363

The diversity of papers presented in this volume attest to the fact that impact cratering is very much a biological process. This volume is the tenth in a series of books resulting from the activities of the scientific programme, “Response of the Earth System to Impact Processes” (IMPACT), by the European Science Foundation. The papers were presented at an international meeting at King’s College, Cambridge in 2003. These papers investigate the effects of asteroid and comet impacts on a diversity of biological and evolutionary processes including the survival of organics and microbial ecosystems to the extinction of organisms.