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There is broad consensus that the Chicxulub impactor was a C-type asteroid with a carbonaceous chondrite-like composition, rather than a comet. [ 29 ] [ 67 ] These types of asteroids originally formed in the outer Solar System, beyond the orbit of Jupiter . [ 67 ]
Uniquely, Tanis appears to record in detail, extensive evidence of the direct effects of the giant Chicxulub asteroid impact which struck the Gulf of Mexico 66.043 million years ago, and wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs and many other species (the so-called "K–Pg" or "K–T" extinction).
A study reporting the findings, ‘Ruthenium isotopes show the Chicxulub impactor was a carbonaceous-type asteroid’, is published in the journal Science. Show comments. Advertisement.
The location of the impact was unknown when the Alvarez team developed their hypothesis, but later scientists discovered the Chicxulub Crater in the Yucatán Peninsula, now considered the likely impact site. [4] Badlands near Drumheller, Alberta where erosion has exposed the K–Pg boundary.
The Chicxulub impact has been widely considered the most likely cause for the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction, with some scholars linking other impacts like the Popigai impact in Russia and the Chesapeake Bay impact to later extinction events, though the causal relationship has been questioned.
An animation modelling the impact, and subsequent crater formation of the Chicxulub impact (University of Arizona, Space Imagery Center) The prehistoric Chicxulub impact, 66 million years ago, believed to be the cause of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, was caused by an asteroid estimated to be about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) wide. [3]
Tanis is an extraordinary and unique site because it appears to record the events from the first minutes until a few hours after the impact of the giant Chicxulub asteroid in extreme detail. [204] [205] Amber from the site has been reported to contain microtektites matching those of the Chicxulub impact event. [206]
The Chicxulub crater is an impact crater buried underneath the Mexican Yucatán Peninsula, with its center located offshore, near the town of Chicxulub.The crater is about 180 kilometers (110 mi) in diameter, making it one of the largest confirmed impact structures in the world; the asteroid whose impact (animation shown) formed the crater was at least 10 km (6 mi) in diameter.