International team in Science Advances identifies CO chondrite Chicxulub impactor
Technology
Turns out, the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago was a rare CO chondrite meteorite, not the type scientists once thought.
Researchers from Canada, France, Belgium, and Austria figured this out by analyzing nickel traces in rocks at Mexico's Chicxulub crater.
Their work just dropped in Science Advances.
Impactor identification updates asteroid formation models
The Chicxulub impact sparked wildfires, tsunamis, and massive climate shifts, leading to the extinction of about 75% of Earth's species (including all nonavian dinosaurs).
This new ID helps update asteroid formation models and gives us fresh insight into how debris cooled the planet.
It also reminds us why mammals eventually took over, and why keeping an eye on space rocks is still a big deal.