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Artist's impression of the asteroid slamming into tropical, shallow seas of the sulfur-rich Yucatán Peninsula in what is today Southeast Mexico. [13] The aftermath of the asteroid collision, which occurred approximately 66 million years ago, is believed to have caused the mass extinction of non-avian dinosaurs and many other species on Earth. [13]
The asteroid responsible for our last mass extinction 66 million years ago — wiping out the dinosaurs — originated from the far reaches of our solar system, unlike most asteroids that have ...
The asteroid that killed most dinosaurs 66 million years ago left behind traces of its own origin. Researchers think they know where the Chicxulub impactor came from based on levels of ruthenium.
Whether volcanic activity played a major role in the dinosaur extinction remains up for debate, but the German researchers did find evidence to rule out that the impactor could have been an icy comet.
Luis Walter Alvarez, left, and his son Walter, right, at the K–T Boundary in Gubbio, Italy, 1981. The Alvarez hypothesis posits that the mass extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs and many other living things during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event was caused by the impact of a large asteroid on the Earth.
In addition to the 180 km (110 mi) Chicxulub crater, there is the 24 km (15 mi) Boltysh crater in Ukraine (65.17 ± 0.64 Ma), the 20 km (12 mi) Silverpit crater in the North Sea (59.5 ± 14.5 Ma) possibly formed by bolide impact, and the controversial and much larger 600 km (370 mi) Shiva crater.
The study shows that the asteroid, while having a severe initial impact, did not immediately kill off the dinosaurs - instead slowly killing them off over a few years.
Mazama and Crater Lake form part of the Mazama reach (section) of the Oregon Cascades, which stretches for 25 miles (40 km) from Timber Crater to the Big Bunchgrass shield volcano. This includes 175 Quaternary volcanic vents within a belt that ranges from 16 to 19 miles (25 to 30 km) in width, which has a high vent density with many shields and ...