Extraordinary Biomass-Burning Episode and Impact Winter Triggered by the Younger Dryas Cosmic Impact similar to 12,800 Years Ago: A Reply
Abstract
New hypotheses with major multidisciplinary implications, such as the Younger Dryas airburst/impact hypothesis, appropriately face intense testing, and we respect that. However, such criticisms must be based on facts.
Instead, many of the assertions made in the discussion by Holliday and coauthors are inaccurate. In this article, we present rebuttals of the most significant of their inaccurate assertions but decline to address unfounded opinions.
Most of the following discussion deals with the implications of the Younger Dryas Boundary (YDB) layer, including evidence supporting extensive YDB burning and its proposed age, identification, and context within the chronological record. Other issues include the association of biomass burning with impact-related proxies, megafaunal extinctions, and human population declines.
Holliday and coauthors dispute whether impacts, in general, can even cause biomass burning, a long-settled question. These issues are presented mostly in order of appearance with direct quotations from the discussion by Holliday and coauthors in boldface type within quotation marks.
Emphasis has been added to some of their statements, as noted..