A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea

Abstract We present evidence that in ~ 1650 BCE (~ 3600 years ago), a cosmic airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam, a Middle-Bronze-Age city in the southern Jordan Valley northeast of the Dead Sea. The proposed airburst was larger than the 1908 explosion over Tunguska, Russia, where a ~ 50-m-wide bolide...

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Autores principales:	Ted E. Bunch, Malcolm A. LeCompte, A. Victor Adedeji, James H. Wittke, T. David Burleigh, Robert E. Hermes, Charles Mooney, Dale Batchelor, Wendy S. Wolbach, Joel Kathan, Gunther Kletetschka, Mark C. L. Patterson, Edward C. Swindel, Timothy Witwer, George A. Howard, Siddhartha Mitra, Christopher R. Moore, Kurt Langworthy, James P. Kennett, Allen West, Phillip J. Silvia
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/4bb6d3b94fe84d1f8d674605165b16ec
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:4bb6d3b94fe84d1f8d674605165b16ec2021-12-02T18:48:23ZA Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea10.1038/s41598-021-97778-32045-2322https://doaj.org/article/4bb6d3b94fe84d1f8d674605165b16ec2021-09-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-97778-3https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract We present evidence that in ~ 1650 BCE (~ 3600 years ago), a cosmic airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam, a Middle-Bronze-Age city in the southern Jordan Valley northeast of the Dead Sea. The proposed airburst was larger than the 1908 explosion over Tunguska, Russia, where a ~ 50-m-wide bolide detonated with ~ 1000× more energy than the Hiroshima atomic bomb. A city-wide ~ 1.5-m-thick carbon-and-ash-rich destruction layer contains peak concentrations of shocked quartz (~ 5–10 GPa); melted pottery and mudbricks; diamond-like carbon; soot; Fe- and Si-rich spherules; CaCO3 spherules from melted plaster; and melted platinum, iridium, nickel, gold, silver, zircon, chromite, and quartz. Heating experiments indicate temperatures exceeded 2000 °C. Amid city-side devastation, the airburst demolished 12+ m of the 4-to-5-story palace complex and the massive 4-m-thick mudbrick rampart, while causing extreme disarticulation and skeletal fragmentation in nearby humans. An airburst-related influx of salt (~ 4 wt.%) produced hypersalinity, inhibited agriculture, and caused a ~ 300–600-year-long abandonment of ~ 120 regional settlements within a > 25-km radius. Tall el-Hammam may be the second oldest city/town destroyed by a cosmic airburst/impact, after Abu Hureyra, Syria, and possibly the earliest site with an oral tradition that was written down (Genesis). Tunguska-scale airbursts can devastate entire cities/regions and thus, pose a severe modern-day hazard.Ted E. BunchMalcolm A. LeCompteA. Victor AdedejiJames H. WittkeT. David BurleighRobert E. HermesCharles MooneyDale BatchelorWendy S. WolbachJoel KathanGunther KletetschkaMark C. L. PattersonEdward C. SwindelTimothy WitwerGeorge A. HowardSiddhartha MitraChristopher R. MooreKurt LangworthyJames P. KennettAllen WestPhillip J. SilviaNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-64 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Ted E. Bunch Malcolm A. LeCompte A. Victor Adedeji James H. Wittke T. David Burleigh Robert E. Hermes Charles Mooney Dale Batchelor Wendy S. Wolbach Joel Kathan Gunther Kletetschka Mark C. L. Patterson Edward C. Swindel Timothy Witwer George A. Howard Siddhartha Mitra Christopher R. Moore Kurt Langworthy James P. Kennett Allen West Phillip J. Silvia A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea
description	Abstract We present evidence that in ~ 1650 BCE (~ 3600 years ago), a cosmic airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam, a Middle-Bronze-Age city in the southern Jordan Valley northeast of the Dead Sea. The proposed airburst was larger than the 1908 explosion over Tunguska, Russia, where a ~ 50-m-wide bolide detonated with ~ 1000× more energy than the Hiroshima atomic bomb. A city-wide ~ 1.5-m-thick carbon-and-ash-rich destruction layer contains peak concentrations of shocked quartz (~ 5–10 GPa); melted pottery and mudbricks; diamond-like carbon; soot; Fe- and Si-rich spherules; CaCO3 spherules from melted plaster; and melted platinum, iridium, nickel, gold, silver, zircon, chromite, and quartz. Heating experiments indicate temperatures exceeded 2000 °C. Amid city-side devastation, the airburst demolished 12+ m of the 4-to-5-story palace complex and the massive 4-m-thick mudbrick rampart, while causing extreme disarticulation and skeletal fragmentation in nearby humans. An airburst-related influx of salt (~ 4 wt.%) produced hypersalinity, inhibited agriculture, and caused a ~ 300–600-year-long abandonment of ~ 120 regional settlements within a > 25-km radius. Tall el-Hammam may be the second oldest city/town destroyed by a cosmic airburst/impact, after Abu Hureyra, Syria, and possibly the earliest site with an oral tradition that was written down (Genesis). Tunguska-scale airbursts can devastate entire cities/regions and thus, pose a severe modern-day hazard.
format	article
author	Ted E. Bunch Malcolm A. LeCompte A. Victor Adedeji James H. Wittke T. David Burleigh Robert E. Hermes Charles Mooney Dale Batchelor Wendy S. Wolbach Joel Kathan Gunther Kletetschka Mark C. L. Patterson Edward C. Swindel Timothy Witwer George A. Howard Siddhartha Mitra Christopher R. Moore Kurt Langworthy James P. Kennett Allen West Phillip J. Silvia
author_facet	Ted E. Bunch Malcolm A. LeCompte A. Victor Adedeji James H. Wittke T. David Burleigh Robert E. Hermes Charles Mooney Dale Batchelor Wendy S. Wolbach Joel Kathan Gunther Kletetschka Mark C. L. Patterson Edward C. Swindel Timothy Witwer George A. Howard Siddhartha Mitra Christopher R. Moore Kurt Langworthy James P. Kennett Allen West Phillip J. Silvia
author_sort	Ted E. Bunch
title	A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea
title_short	A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea
title_full	A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea
title_fullStr	A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea
title_full_unstemmed	A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea
title_sort	tunguska sized airburst destroyed tall el-hammam a middle bronze age city in the jordan valley near the dead sea
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/4bb6d3b94fe84d1f8d674605165b16ec
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A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea

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