The DOI matches its Crossref record; 92 of the 98 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Illusory Late Heavy Bombardments
Open accessAbstract
Significance: The vast majority of evidence marshaled for the Late Heavy Bombardment comes from 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age spectra of Apollo samples, interpreted through “plateau” ages, which show an apparent cluster at ∼3.9 Ga. Whether such data can be uniquely inverted to constrain impact histories in the Earth−Moon system has never been tested. We show that diffusive loss of 40 Ar from a monotonically declining impactor flux coupled with the early and episodic nature of lunar crust formation tends to create clustered distributions of apparent 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages at ca. 3.9 Ga. Instead, these 40 Ar/ 39 Ar data can be reconciled with a continuously decreasing bollide flux. Thus, impacts may have played a minimal role in terrestrial habitability, early Earth dynamics, and the formation of Hadean zircons.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The check wasn’t confident either way, so it gives no verdict — never disputed.
In the citing paper
“In recent times, the role of proteins in the origin of ribosomes is gaining currency, implying that the ribosome may have first originated in a peptide/RNA world, where both amino acids and a variety of enzymes were available [9,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,92].”
From The Origin of Prebiotic Information System in the Peptide/RNA World: A Simulation Model of the Evolution of Translation and the Genetic Code (2019) · cites this paper as [14]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn the citing paper
“Recent work suggesting that the early Earth was more temperate (Valley et al. 2002;Hren et al. 2009), and the flux of impactors smaller and less damaging than previously thought (Boehnke and Harrison 2016;Abramov and Mojzsis 2009) predicts that, as a whole, the early Earth could have provided a range of environmental niches stable for millions of years.”
From Environmental Adaptation from the Origin of Life to the Last Universal Common Ancestor (2018) · cites this paper as Boehnke and Harrison 2016
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Carslaw, H. S., & Jaeger, J. C. (1947) · International Linear Collider · Cited by 19,877
Tranter, C. J. (1959) · Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids · doi:10.1016/0022-5096(59)90029-8 · Cited by 18,518
Composition of the Continental Crust
Rudnick, R. L., & Gao, S. (2003) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b0-08-043751-6/03016-4 · Cited by 9,624
Composition of the Continental Crust
Rudnick, R. L., & Gao, S. (2014) · Treatise on Geochemistry · doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-095975-7.00301-6 · Cited by 5,691
(2004) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.42-0322 · Cited by 4,580
Jaynes, E. T. (1968) · IEEE Transactions on Systems Science and Cybernetics · doi:10.1109/tssc.1968.300117 · Cited by 1,858
Wilde, S. A., Valley, J. W., Peck, W. H., & Graham, C. M. (2001) · Nature · doi:10.1038/35051550 · Cited by 1,744
Origin of the cataclysmic Late Heavy Bombardment period of the terrestrial planets
Gomes, R., Levison, H. F., Tsiganis, K., & Morbidelli, A. (2005) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature03676 · Cited by 1,737
Evidence for life on Earth before 3,800 million years ago
Mojzsis, S. J., Arrhenius, G., McKeegan, K. D., Harrison, T. M., Nutman, A. P., & Friend, C. R. L. (1996) · Nature · doi:10.1038/384055a0 · Cited by 1,370
Self-citationOxygen-isotope evidence from ancient zircons for liquid water at the Earth's surface 4,300 Myr ago
Mojzsis, S. J., Harrison, T. M., & Pidgeon, R. T. (2001) · Nature · doi:10.1038/35051557 · Cited by 863
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
6 of the 98 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 7
- P Boehnke, MT Heizler, TM Harrison, OM Lovera, PH Warren, Avoiding interpretative pitfalls in analysis of 40Ar/39Ar step-heating data from thermally disturbed meteoritic and lunar samples. Proc Lunar Planet Sci Conf 45, 2545 (2014).
- DA Minton, AP Jackson, E Asphaug, CI Fassett, JE Richardson, Debris from borealis basin formation as the primary impactor population of Late Heavy Bombardment. Workshop on Early Solar System Impact Bombardment III (Solar Syst Explor Res Virtual Inst, Moffett Field, CA), pp. 3033 (2015).
- EC Alexander, SB Kahl, 40Ar-39Ar studies of lunar breccias. Proc Lunar Planet Sci Conf 5, 1353–1373 (1974).
- OA Schaeffer, GA Schaeffer, 39Ar-40Ar ages of lunar rocks. Proc Lunar Planet Sci Conf 8, 840–842 (1977).
- G Turner, PH Cadogan, The history of lunar bombardment inferred from 40Ar-39Ar dating of highland rocks. Proc Lunar Planet Sci Conf 6, 1509–1538 (1975b).
- G Turner, PH Cadogan, CJ Yonge, Argon selenochronology. Proc Lunar Planet Sci Conf 4, 1889–1914 (1973).
- D York, WJ Kenyon, RJ Doyle, 40Ar-39Ar ages of Apollo 14 and 15 samples. Proc Lunar Planet Sci Conf 3, 1613–1622 (1972).
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 101–137 of 137
The Lunar Surface and Late Heavy Bombardment Concept
Harrison, T. M. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-46687-9_4 · Cited by 3
Self-citationIzidoro, A., Deienno, R., Raymond, S. N., & Clement, M. S. (2025) · The Astrophysical Journal Letters · doi:10.3847/2041-8213/adfdc9 · Cited by 7
Constraining the Source Craters of Apollo Impact Melts
Blevins, A. M., Minton, D. A., Huang, Y., Du, J., Tremblay, M. M., & Fassett, C. I. (2025) · Journal of Geophysical Research Planets · doi:10.1029/2025je009137 · Cited by 2
Planetary Impacts: Friend or Foe?
Black, B. A., & Bermingham, K. R. (2025) · Astrobiology · doi:10.1177/15311074251399212 · Cited by 2
Apollo Impact Melts Record a Rapidly Declining Impact Rate in the Late Imbrian
Blevins, A. M., Minton, D. A., Huang, Y., Du, J., Tremblay, M. M., & Fassett, C. I. (2025) · Journal of Geophysical Research Planets · doi:10.1029/2024je008722 · Cited by 2
Formation of Terrestrial Planets
Clement, M. S., Izidoro, A., Raymond, S. N., & Deienno, R. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-30648-3_142-2 · Cited by 9
The Origin and Early Evolution of Life: Prebiotic Chemistry of Biomolecules
Fiore, M. (2019) · MDPI eBooks · doi:10.3390/books978-3-03921-607-9 · Cited by 2
Evolution of Earth's Atmosphere
Jones, C. K., Leung, M., Ebadirad, S., Sneed, E. L., & Lyons, T. W. (2025) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-96026-7.00226-5 · Cited by 2
Alvarez, W. C. (2025) · Meteoritics and Planetary Science · doi:10.1111/maps.70084 · Cited by 1
Meteorite Radioisotope Ages Reveal Late Dynamical Chaos in the Solar System
Walton, C. R., Schönbächler, M., Jeon, H., Hu, S., Morbidelli, A., Bovay, T., Bouvier, A., Whitehouse, M. J., & Shorttle, O. (2026) · The Astrophysical Journal Letters · doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ae3d34 · Cited by 1
Late Bombardment of Carbonaceous Asteroids Recorded in Chang'e‐6 Lunar Metals
Liu, X., Hao, J., Li, J., Tian, H., Hu, S., Yue, Z., Chen, Y. G., Yang, W., Jia, L., Gu, L., et al. (2026) · Journal of Geophysical Research Planets · doi:10.1029/2026je009653 · Cited by 1
Three-body evidence of ca. 3.7 Ga to 3.2 Ga bombardment across the inner solar system
Crow, C. A., Erickson, T. M., Economos, R., Lehman-Franco, K., Boyce, J. W., Richards, A. M., Diaz, C. A., Flowers, R. M., Brounce, M., Schoene, B., et al. (2026) · Geology · doi:10.1130/g54386.1 · Cited by 1
Bradák, B. (2023) · Earth and Planetary Science · doi:10.36956/eps.v2i2.860 · Cited by 1
Proposed Sources of Hadean Zircons
Harrison, T. M. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-46687-9_9
Self-citationEarth Without Life 2: A Global Network Model of Abiotic Phosphorus Cycling on Earth Through TimePreprint
Jusino-Maldonado, M., Rianço-Silva, R., Mondal, J. A., Pasek, M. A., Laneuville, M., & Cleaves, H. J. (2022) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-1259539/v1
The Importance of Water for Life
Westall, F., & Brack, A. (2018) · Space sciences series of ISSI · doi:10.1007/978-94-024-1628-2_2
Deconinck, J.-F. (2017) · De Boeck Supérieur eBooks · doi:10.3917/dbu.decon.2017.01.0191
The Hadean Eon: Hot, Cold, or Just Right?
Harrison, T. M. (2020) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-102908-4.00093-x
Self-citationCrater Formation Under Extreme Space Weather ConditionsPreprint
Gable, J., & Bagashov, E. (2023) · Preprints.org · doi:10.20944/preprints202301.0071.v1
郭, 弟., 刘, 建., James, W. H., 张, 福., 凌, 宗., 陈, 圣., 陈, 建., 丁, 孝., 籍, 进., & 欧, 阳. (2023) · SCIENTIA SINICA Terrae · doi:10.1360/n072022-0258
Origin and evolution of Earth's water inventory
Harrison, T. M., Lithgow‐Bertelloni, C., & Young, E. (2024) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-99762-1.00038-3
Self-citationGordon, R., Singh, S. R. V., Katyal, K., Gordon, N. K., & Deamer, D. W. (2024) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781119901228.ch6
Gordon, R., & Mikhailovsky, G. E. (2024) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781119901228.ch2
Collapse of the Lunar Late Heavy Bombardment hypothesis: Evidence from Chang’e-6 samples
Yue, Z., Sheng, G. O. U., & Michael, G. (2025) · Acta Mineralogica Sinica · doi:10.3724/j.1000-4734.2025.45.096
Archean greenstone belts: Records of pre/nonplate tectonics?
Zuo, J., Webb, A. A. G., Haproff, P. J., & Müller, T. (2025) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-95547-8.00015-x
Earth's formation and first billion years
Harrison, T. M. (2025) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-95547-8.00002-1
Self-citationTrieloff, M., KOROCHANTSEVA, E. V., Buikin, A. I., Hopp, J., & Korochantsev, A. V. (2025) · Geochemistry · doi:10.1016/j.chemer.2025.126318
Ejecta thickness and layering estimation for an example Artemis landing site candidate on the Moon
Tomka, R. K., Keresztúri, Á., & Pál, B. (2026) · Planetary and Space Science · doi:10.1016/j.pss.2026.106256 · Cited by 1
Reassessing late-stage impact assumptions in light of modern planet formation paradigms
Turner, B. (2026) · Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences · doi:10.3389/fspas.2026.1777086
Verdier-Paoletti, M. J. (2017) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/cf7ce443z1e8az436czb449z186306175b99
Bekaert, D. V. (2020) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/f9c2a6a9z20f0z48abz8b74z1f699414a980
Allibert, L. (2020) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/9aaf75d8zd0c1z4d53z8cfczc19f4e67574c
Gkotsinas, A. (2023) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/32d74e6bz75d7z491fz9176zbfb1c19d0ef3
Lim, J., Kim, Y., Park, S., Yi, S., Kim, S., Park, G., Shin, Y. H., Lee, H.-J., An, G., Jung, A., et al. (2026) · Communications Earth & Environment · doi:10.1038/s43247-026-03206-7
Zhang, W., Zhang, L., Lin, M., Jourdan, F., Wang, J.-J., Zhang, Y., Chen, J., ZHENG, D., He, P., Su, F., et al. (2026) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.aee8718
Planetary Constraints on Prebiotic Chemistry
Walton, C. R. (2026) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780197851500.003.0313
Metadata
- Authors
- Boehnke, P., & Harrison, T. M.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2016-09-12
- Volume
- 113
- Issue
- 39
- Pages
- 10802-10806
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC5047187
- OpenAlex
- W2519355055
- Cited by
- 138
- References
- 98
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 13
- FWCI
- 7.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (EAR-0948724, EAR-1339051)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Space and Planetary Science › Astro and Planetary Science
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geochemistry and Petrology › Geological and Geochemical Analysis
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Space and Planetary Science › Planetary Science and Exploration
- Keywords
- Late Heavy Bombardment, plateau ages, argon diffusion, lunar impact history, Apollo samples, lunar magmatism
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
