Ordovician meteor event

Common card · No. 490041

The Ordovician meteor event was a dramatic increase in the rate at which L chondrite meteorites fell to Earth during the Middle Ordovician period, about 467.5±0.28 million years ago, lasting for about 40 million years. This rate increase is indicated by abundant fossil L chondrite meteorites in a quarry in Sweden and enhanced concentrations of ordinary chondritic chromite grains in sedimentary rocks from this time. According to a 2019 study, this temporary increase in the impact rate could have been caused by the destruction of the L chondrite parent body that was 150 kilometers (93 mi) in diameter and orbited in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This occurred around 468±0.3 million years ago, having scattered fragments into Earth-crossing orbits, a chronology which is also supported by shock ages in numerous L chondrite meteorites that fall to Earth today. It has been speculated that this influx contributed to, or possibly even instigated, the Great Ordovician Biodiversification...

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