While studying the crater of Chicxulub, on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, geologists from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) found new evidence to support the theory that dinosaurs were destroyed by an asteroid 66 million of years ago.
An international team of scientists, including VUB researchers, studied the Chicxulub Crater, where an asteroid struck the Earth 66 million years ago.
The impact of this asteroid with a diameter of 12 kilometres corresponds to the power of 10 billion atomic bombs of the Second World War.
Scientists drilled up to 800 meters into the rock in search of sulfur, but they did not find any. On the other hand, the deep rocks around the crater contained large quantities, confirming the theory that the sulphur-containing minerals located in the meteorite impact zone were thrown into the atmosphere.
Huge quantities of sulphurous gases spread throughout the upper atmosphere and reflected the sun's rays, leading to the extinction of three-quarters of all life forms on earth, including dinosaurs," says Pim Kaskes, a VUB researcher.
Using drill cores from the Chicxulub crater, scientists will now try to accurately track what happened on Earth after the meteorite crash.
The Brussels Times