Comet showers as a cause of mass extinctions

Abstract

If at least some mass extinctions are caused by impacts, why do they extend over intervals of one to three million years and have a partly stepwise character? The solution may be provided by multiple cometary impacts. Astronomical, geological and palaeontological evidence is consistent with a causal connection between comet showers, clusters of impact events and stepwise mass extinctions, but it is too early to tell how pervasive this relationship may be. © 1987 Nature Publishing Group.