Field work in Italy, 1977

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In 1977 Terry Engelder spent the summer mapping in Italy with Walter Alvarez. During the course of the field season the two geologists visited an outcrop 65 million years old containing a layer of clay deposited at the time of the extinction of dinosaurs. Walter wanted a sample to see if there was any indication of why the dinosaurs suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth. Walter's work with his father back at the University of California at Berkeley resulted in the famous impact theory for dinosaur extinction. Although not part of the discovery team at Berkeley, Terry was one of the first two people to touch the famous samples that gave rise to the modern theory of dinosaur extinction.

Reference:

Alvarez, W., 1986, Toward a theroy of impact crises: EOS, v. 67, p. 649-658.

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