The occurrence of unusually high concentrations of the relatively scarce metal iridium at the boundaries of certain geological strata. Two such layers have been discovered, one at the end of the Cretaceous, 66 million years ago, and the second at the end of the Eocene, 34 million years ago. One theory to account for these suggests that on each occasion a huge iridium-containing meteorite may have collided with the earth, producing a cloud of dust that settled out to form an iridium-rich layer. The environmental consequences of such an impact, notably in causing a general warming of the earth by the greenhouse effect, may have led to the extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous and the extinction of many radiolarians at the end of the Eocene. See alvarez event.