66 million years ago, a massive asteroid, 6 to 9 miles wide, collided with Earth, ending the age of the dinosaurs and causing one of the most significant mass extinctions in our planet’s history. The asteroid struck the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, creating the Chicxulub crater, a 112-mile-wide, 12-mile-deep scar that stands as a testament to the event’s devastating impact.
New research has shed light on the origin of this catastrophic asteroid. An analysis of the debris left behind reveals that the asteroid came from beyond Jupiter, from the outer regions of our solar system. This discovery resolves a long-standing debate among scientists regarding the asteroid’s origin.
The debris analysis showed that the impactor was a carbonaceous asteroid, or C-type, which contains a high concentration of carbon. This finding rules out previous theories suggesting that the asteroid was a comet or that the debris layer resulted from volcanic activity.
“A projectile originating at the outskirts of the solar system sealed the fate of the dinosaurs,” said Mario Fischer-Gödde, a geochemist at the University of Cologne in Germany and the study’s lead author. The research, published in the journal Science, provides strong evidence that the asteroid came from the outer solar system before migrating into the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Researchers focused on ruthenium isotopes found in the global layer of clay deposited after the impact. These isotopes, rare on Earth but common in asteroids, matched those found in other carbonaceous asteroids.
“Ruthenium is especially useful in this context as the isotopic signature in the clay layer is almost entirely made up of ruthenium from the impactor and not the background sediment,” explained Steven Goderis, a geoscientist and study co-author from Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium.
C-type asteroids are among the most ancient objects in the solar system, originating far from the sun. Their composition differs from S-type asteroids, which formed closer to the sun and are the primary building blocks of terrestrial planets like Earth.
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The study’s findings highlight the rarity of such an event. Researchers examined other asteroid impacts dating from 37 million to 470 million years ago and found that all were S-type, underscoring how uncommon a strike by a carbonaceous asteroid is.
The asteroid’s impact caused widespread extinction, wiping out the dinosaurs, flying reptiles like pterosaurs, and many marine species. However, mammals managed to survive, setting the stage for the rise of humans roughly 300,000 years ago.
“I think without this cosmic coincidence of an asteroid impact, life on our planet would probably have developed vastly differently,” Fischer-Gödde remarked, reflecting on the profound implications of the asteroid’s origin and impact.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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