Scientists have discovered new evidence of the space rock that hit Earth 66 million years ago, and abruptly ended the age of dinosaurs, opening new horizons for understanding the history of the solar system and the influence of celestial bodies on life. on Earth, according to a newspaper “New York Times“.
According to a recent study, scientists carefully analyzed rock samples from the Chicxulub crater site in Mexico, where they found strong evidence that the space rock that caused the eruption was the dinosaurs are different from what we thought.
The nature of the rock, known as the Chicxulub impactor, has sparked widespread controversy among scientists, including a long-standing dispute over whether it is a comet or an asteroid. ‘ there.
But evidence has been mounting in recent years that the cause of the collision, which is about 6 miles (9,656 meters) wide, is related to a family of asteroids that formed outside orbit Jupiter, and they rarely hit Earth, according to the newspaper. .
A team of scientists strengthened this evidence, led by Mario Fischer-Gudi, a scientist at the University of Cologne in Germany, by finding the rare element “ruthenium”, which is abundant in asteroids, but very rare in the Earth’s crust.
According to the study published Thursday in the scientific journal Science, scientists searched for ruthenium isotopes in the geological remains of the Chicxulub impact. called carbonaceous asteroids.
“This is the final nail in the coffin for this discovery,” Fisher-Gaudy said.
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Previous studies indicated that a carbonaceous asteroid was behind the extinction of “non-avian dinosaurs” and about two-thirds of all other species on Earth.
During the study, scientists also measured “ruthenium” in samples from 5 other asteroid collisions that occurred over the past 541 million years.
All of these impacts were siliciclastic asteroids, a class that formed near the Sun, unlike carbonaceous asteroids that were located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Most of the meteorites that reach the Earth’s surface belong to the “silicon” family.
“So far, among the 500 million-year-old asteroids, Chicxulub appears to be a unique and rare case of a carbonaceous-type asteroid hitting the Earth,” said Fischer-Gody.
It is still not clear how a large carbon asteroid ended up on a collision course with Earth, according to the newspaper, but scientists believe that gravitational instability in the early solar system sent it on moved to Earth.
There are still many mysteries about the Chicxulub disaster, as well as the wider role that asteroid strikes play in the emergence and development of life on Earth, and possibly on other planets, according to the newspaper.
Carbonaceous asteroids wiped out several species on Earth, but they may also have helped provide Earth with water and other essential ingredients for life in the early solar system.
While the Chicxulub impact caused the death of the dinosaurs, it allowed mammals to appear, including humans, scientists say.
