Atop Goat Hill in Raton, New Mexico lies a layer of rock that tells a story that is guaranteed to intrigue more than just ardent geologists. A thin layer of iridium-rich rock calls this hill home. It’s the type of layer only found in several places across the world. Radiometric dating of these layers found that they actually mark the boundary between the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods. An anomalous iridium layer was first discovered in the 1980s in Gubbio, Italy. The concentration of iridium was notable because iridium, while uncommon…
