Study Reveals Chicxulub Impactor's Origin and Impact

A remarkable study has been carried out to locate the origin of the asteroid that caused the Chicxulub impact, one of the deadliest events in the history of our planet. The impact has caused the complete extinction of all nonaviaru dinosaurs 66 million years ago, as well as 76% of the planet’s species, and had however negative consequences for the Earth’s fauna and geological history.

A study described in the article, states that the impactor was a carbonaceous chondrite forming cold”accretion zone, one of the greatest reservoirs of the asteroids of such type, located behind the orbit of Jupiter. From the research, it is determined that the one with approximately 10 kilometers in diameter impacted the Earth in the future territory of Mexico. As it is reported, the current element at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary is the presence of the certain platinum-group elements. The levels of such rare one in the Earth’s crust as ruthenium are a perfect match for the composition of the meteorites, implying the asteroid’s natural extraterrestrial origin. In addition to the asteroid, the study addresses other possibilities of the source of the impactor, particularly, Deccan Traps, but the group of scientists carried out several tests and proved the asteroid as the only candidate. Such a result makes the article remarkable not only by the information it brings and the implications on our knowledge in the Chicxulub event but also by the importance of Jupiter’s “massive gravitational forces” that usually protect the Earth from the invasion of the objects in the outer Solar System.