Researchers Identify the Specific Meteorite That Wiped Out the Dinosaurs

About 66 million years ago, a massive space rock slammed into Earth with the force of billions of atomic bombs. This cosmic collision occurred near what is now the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, creating a crater 180 kilometers wide – one of the largest impact craters on Earth. The force of this impact was so tremendous that it shook the entire planet, triggering earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic activity across the globe. The dust and debris thrown into the atmosphere blocked sunlight for years, causing temperatures to plummet and photosynthesis to stop. This "nuclear winter" led to the extinction of approximately 75% of all species on Earth, including the mighty dinosaurs that had ruled our planet for over 150 million years. For decades, scientists knew that an asteroid impact caused the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction event, but they couldn't determine exactly what type of meteorite it was. The discovery of the Chicxulub crater in 1990 provided strong evidence of the impact location, but the meteorite itself vaporized upon impact, leaving only traces of its composition in the geological record. Researchers had to piece together clues from tiny amounts of material preserved in the K-Pg boundary layer – a thin clay deposit found worldwide that marks the exact time of the extinction.