The extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago was suddenly increasingly evident because of an asteroid strike. Well, scientists from the University of Texas have revealed what happened on the day when the asteroid struck violently.
Previously still hypothetical, this study found evidence that this horrific scenario actually occurred, by examining rocks that once filled the crater where an asteroid struck 24 hours later. Buried hundreds of meters deep, broken and melted rock were found, but no sulfur-containing minerals despite the high concentration of sulfur around.
It is indicated that the asteroid collision evaporated sulfur in the rocks, then formed sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere and caused cooling of temperatures on a global scale. It is estimated that at least 325 billion metric tons of sulfur was produced as a result of the asteroid impact, which in addition to being devastating, also caused climate change.
The following are the moments of the incident based on a theory from the University of Texas that was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences:
2 Days Before the Asteroid Hit
66 million years ago, in the night sky, suddenly a small brilliant light appeared. It doesn't look like it's moving fast, but it's getting brighter. The object is apparently a massive asteroid, 14 kilometers wide and traveling at phenomenal speeds. This is the beginning of the extinction of the dinosaurs.
At that time, in the so-called Cretaceous or Cretaceous period, life on Earth was already flourishing. Dinosaurs breed in many places, with various types.
1 Hour Before Collision
The land at that time was covered with forests and flowering plants, insects breed and the oceans were full of predatory fish. Tyranosaurus Rex and Giganotosaurus ruled the land. Looking up, they may have seen the Sun as if it were two as the asteroid drew closer to what is now Mexico.
2 Minutes Before Collision
The asteroid seemed to enlarge across the South Atlantic, the temperature was 20 thousand degrees Celsius, it looked like a fireball. Moving at a speed of 72,000 kilometers per hour, the asteroid pierced Earth's atmosphere, causing supersonic vibrations and shimmering light. The time of the dinosaurs is coming to an end.
When Collision
The asteroid hit the shallows of the Yucatan Peninsula at this time, causing a crater 160 kilometers wide and 32 kilometers deep. So intense was the impact that as much as 25 trillion dust was instantly released into the atmosphere, enough to blanket the entire planet.
The explosion that occurred was equivalent to 100 trillion TNT and a billion times more powerful than the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. In the crater, there was an impact of a rain higher than Mount Everest. Material is released into the atmosphere at high speed, some will reach the Moon
The burning dust is hotter than the sun and burns anything within thousands of kilometers. The temperature rose more than 300 degrees Celsius and all the animals nearby were burned to the ground. Dinosaurs roasted alive. A tsunami hundreds of meters high also appeared and trapped many creatures in the ocean to death.
2 to 5 Minutes After Collision
Some of the boulders that were thrown high during the moment of the explosion returned to Earth, causing more craters and fires. Seismic waves reach the Earth's core. More dinosaurs died, and the smaller animals were luckier.
About 3,000 kilometers from the point of impact, in what is now Hell Creek, Montana, a group of Tyrannosaurs appeared to be making their way to the river. Suddenly, the ground beneath them heaved violently and threw them to death. Fossil remains at the site were later found that support evidence of the extinction of the dinosaurs due to an asteroid strike.
A group of quetzalcoatluses, flying dinosaurs with such wide wingspans, share in their misfortune. The rocks that flew into the sky back to Earth and stabbed them, one by one began to fall from the sky and died.
30 Minutes to 10 Hours After the Rain
Moving so fast, the tsunami hit land, shattering tons of rock. Big trees, various types of fish and dinosaurs in the sea were carried by the tsunami waves and their fossils were stored deep in the land.
3 hours later, the forest fires still appear but the air is starting to cool. 4 hours passed, clouds that seemed to burn spread all over the Earth. It contains millions of volts of static electricity, creating spectacular electrical storms.
The asteroid impact has reached Western Europe, where the Earth shakes and forest fires appear. Sauropods, the largest land animals that ever existed, struggled to survive. All around, the plants were burnt to the ground.
In the Gulf of Mexico, super tsunamis occur repeatedly. 6 hours after the rain, all the forests in the Indian subcontinent, which is 14,000 kilometers away, burned. In the southern Mongolian desert, there are no fires but the temperature continues to rise which makes the animals roast alive.
10 hours passed. In North America, temperatures are starting to drop even though the air is still thick with smoke from the wildfires. A number of tricraptors died or were dying, their eggs neglected and rotting.