New Evidence Suggests An Earthquake Lasting Weeks to Months Was Triggered By Asteroid Impact That Eradicated Dinosaurs

According to the Geological Society of America, the 'Chicxulub' asteroid impact has been one of the most studied throughout the decades. The asteroid impact is said to "coincide with the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary and is the probable trigger for the last mass extinction in Earth's history." [i]

3D rendered illustration of an asteroid that is impacting the Earth.Photo bySciePro/Adobe Stock

According to research, an asteroid the size of a city "barreled through Earth's atmosphere" nearly 67 million years ago. The asteroid is believed to have "slammed into the shallow waters off the Yucatan Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico." [ii]

The Sun is theorized to have subsequently been blocked out for years. Earth's surface temperature was described as having plummeted by as many as 50 degrees. This helped to aid in "a mass extinction that killed 75 percent of life on Earth." Researchers are alleged to have discovered traces of asteroid dust at the Chicxulub Crater in the Gulf of Mexico. [iii]

Watch the video below for more info on the impact crater in Mexico that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Rock core samples were taken from the Chicxulub Crater. These samples indicated asteroid dust in the form of iridium, "rare in Earth's crust." [iv]

Most recently, researchers aimed to examine the sedimentary record of various sections from Columbia, Northeast Mexico, and the United States. When the cells were studied, it was revealed that each had been affected by "in-situ liquefaction, intense soft-sediment deformation, and bed disruption, illustrating the magnitude of seismotectonic activity for weeks to months after the bolide impact." [v]

Watch the video below for more on liquefaction.

Liquefaction occurs "when strong shaking causes water-saturated sediments to flow like a liquid." Researchers also documented tsunami deposits that had been "left by an enormous wave that was part of the cascading catastrophes resulting from the asteroid collision." [vi]

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References

[i] Geological Society of America, The Chicxulub Mega-Earthquake: Evidence From Colombia, Mexico, and the United States (2022)

[ii] Geological Society of America, Impact that killed the dinosaurs triggered 'mega-earthquake' that lasted weeks to months (Oct. 6, 2022)

[iii] Jake Parks, Asteroid dust found at Chicxulub Crater confirms cause of dinosaurs' extinction (Mar. 12, 2021)

[iv] Id.

[v] Geological Society of America, Impact that killed the dinosaurs triggered 'mega-earthquake' that lasted weeks to months (Oct. 6, 2022)

[vi] Id.