A study has reconstructed the immediate aftermath of the asteroid 66 million years ago to learn more about the impact of the momentous event.
In the hours after the dinosaur-killing asteroid hit Earth 66 million years ago, the planet was transformed—ravaged by wildfires and a huge tsunami, before being plunged into darkness in an event that would kill off 75 percent of life.
Within this layer was charcoal, the researchers discovered. This, they say, is evidence of huge wildfires that would have stretched for hundreds and hundreds of miles. The team also found an absence of sulfur in the deposits—which is unusual as the area is known for having sulfur-rich rocks. This indicates the impact caused a reaction leading to the release of sulfate aerosols—which caused the long period of darkness and global cooling that is believed to have killed off the dinosaurs.
"The sky would darken and shortly after the heating from the incoming ejecta the temperatures globally would start to plummet as a sulfate aerosol haze surrounds the planet. The Earth would likely no longer look like the familiar blue marble from space and it would take perhaps as long as two decades to clear again fully."
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