The asteroid that hit Earth nearly 13,000 years ago and ended the Pleistocene era likely wiped out an ancient civilization in what is modern-day Syria, according to newly discovered evidence.
The research, published in Scientific Reports, notes that experts discovered remnants of glass that were created during a high-impact event, as well as minerals such as chromium, iron, nickel and others, all of which formed in temperatures higher than 2,200 degrees Celsius, according to a statement from the University of California-Santa Barbara.
“To help with perspective, such high temperatures would completely melt an automobile in less than a minute,” said one of the study's co-authors and UC Santa Barbara emeritus professor of geology James Kennett in the statement.
