SCIENTISTS DISCOVERS ORIGIN OF ASTEROID THAT KILLED THE DINOSAURS
In the past, dinosaurs roamed the planet. Then, 66 million years ago, a huge piece of space rock smashed into the earth, forming a huge crater and sending dust and debris clouds skyward. This asteroid, which is now known as the Chicxulub impactor, destroyed thousands of species, including the enormous land-dwelling dinosaurs of the past. Despite extensive geological and paleontological research, there is still a great deal of mystery surrounding this event. One question has been answered by a recent Science paper: what kind of space rock collided with Earth? Since ruthenium is a very uncommon element on Earth, it turns out that the most likely explanation is a carbonaceous asteroid.
To support the recent scientific claim that the impactor was a carbonaceous asteroid, Mario Fischer-Gödde of the University of Cologne in Germany used a novel strategy. The far reaches of the asteroid belt in our system are usually home to carbonaceous asteroids, also known as C-type asteroids, which are common in space and have a high carbon content. This indicates that it originates from outside of Jupiter's orbit.
Siliceous asteroids are far more likely to strike Earth even though they are fairly common in space. On the inner side of the asteroid belt, these S-type asteroids fly closer to Earth and are composed of silicate and nickel-iron, among other materials.
Dr. Fischer-Gödde told The New York Times that Chicxulub, one of the 500 million-year-old impactors, appears to be a rare and exceptional instance of an asteroid of the carbonaceous type striking Earth.
The scientists looked at what is known as the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary to determine whether the dinosaur-killing asteroid was an S-type or a C-type. Debris from the impact in modern-day Mexico settled and created a thin layer of rock in the geological record all over the world. From South Dakota to India to Italy, this is evident.
By designating geological time with iridium-rich rock, it distinguishes between the two eras in its name. The researchers found ruthenium isotopes within this boundary. One metal and element that is extremely uncommon on Earth is ruthenium. However, the nature of the asteroid is indicated by its presence in the K-Pg boundary.
It is the final nail in the coffin, according to Dr. Fischer-Gödde. "A carbonaceous asteroid is the only possible explanation for this ruthenium isotope signature that we measured." There are still a lot of unanswered questions regarding the asteroid and the gloomy times for the dinosaurs that preceded our own.