For the first time, scientists have modelled the speed and distance of the Chicxulub asteroid impact, also known as the one that wiped out the dinosaurs. In addition to eradicating the dinosaurs, it altered a great deal more aspects of our globe. The asteroid struck the water in the current Gulf of Mexico, but it was so strong that it catapulted fragments of the Earth’s crust and seafloor sediment miles into the atmosphere. The result was a wave that was almost three miles high. The wave was still approximately a mile tall and was rushing out from the crater even 10 minutes after impact, when it was already more than 130 miles away. The waves that spread destruction over the world are depicted in the video below.
The scientific team discovered supporting data in the fossil record for their simulation of what happened. Sediment cores in what is now New Zealand provide an extremely disorganized record of time. Scientists now believe that the chaos, which was previously linked to nearby earthquakes, was actually triggered by an asteroid strike 7,500 miles distant. Because the tsunami waves agitated the ocean up to the seafloor, despite their “only” 30 foot height.
The open access, peer-reviewed study was published by AGU Advances and was made public by Science Alert. There have been several non-scientific simulations of the asteroid crash before this one, however it may be the first. In the Discovery Channel’s depiction depicts the destruction brought on by a 300-mile-wide asteroid, no one survives the catastrophe. There is also a size comparison of asteroid impacts, starting with ones small enough to burn up in the atmosphere and ending with ones large enough to wipe out the entire planet, if you want to work your way up to that level.
This information was released just a few weeks after an asteroid the size of a planet-killer was found in our cosmic neighborhood. But don’t be concerned—Earth is not expected to come into contact with it any time soon. Furthermore, even if it did, NASA is now skilled at bouncing asteroids off track.
Melissa works as a science and technology staff writer for Nerdist. Additionally, she co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast on science and Star Wars, and moderates “science of” panels at conventions.
