monumentides

Monumentides is a term that has been used to describe a hypothetical class of celestial bodies, possibly asteroids or comets, that may have been responsible for impacting Earth during specific geological periods, leaving behind significant geological evidence. The concept is not widely accepted within mainstream astronomy or geology and is largely theoretical.

The idea of monumentides emerged from observations of certain impact craters and the geological strata associated with them. Proponents of the theory suggest that if large celestial bodies were to impact Earth repeatedly within a geologically short timeframe, it could explain the presence of multiple, distinct impact events that appear in the fossil record. These events, they hypothesize, would leave behind recognizable geological signatures that could be traced and studied.

However, the scientific community generally attributes observed geological phenomena to a variety of known geological processes and less frequent, independent impact events. The evidence for a recurring, distinct class of impactors known as monumentides remains speculative and lacks robust empirical support. While asteroid and comet impacts are a well-established geological phenomenon, the concept of a specific, recurring class like monumentides is not part of the current scientific consensus. Further research and discovery would be required to validate such a hypothesis.