A Beat-By-Beat Breakdown Of The Asteroid Impact That Killed The Dinosaurs

A dinosaur looking up 66 million years ago might have spotted the asteroid as it approached Earth. The huge object, flying toward the planet at 45,000 miles per hour, remained visible for about 60 hours before impact. 

Even before the asteroid struck, living creatures felt its impact. As the asteroid smashed into the atmosphere, it created a shock wave that shook the Earth. 

The vaporized asteroid created a plume of fire that shot halfway to the moon. Enormous forest fires erupted in a 1,500-mile radius around the impact site due to both the initial impact and the subsequent tektites. As the glass droplets fell from the sky, they reached an entry speed similar to the space shuttle, growing so hot they set fire to plants as they landed. Geologic evidence shows the fires burned about 70% of the Earth's forests. 

In addition to the cataclysmic blaze, geoscientist Clay Tabor and his colleagues at the University of Connecticut studied soot, sulfates, and dust to identify how the Earth was impacted by these particles. According to their results, published in the journal,Geophysical Research Letters, soot disproportionately blocked heat and light from the sun, causing "global cooling... disrupt[ing] the hydrologic cycle," and "prevent[ing] the growth of primary producers," which effectively starved marine life and interrupted the hydrologic cycle.

The enormous asteroid struck the Western Hemisphere where the modern-day Yucatan peninsula is located and created a crater 18 miles deep. The massive impact released more energy than one billion Hiroshima detonations. 

Due to the strike, Earth's crust momentarily bounced back and peaked higher than Mt. Everest before it broke apart. The impact threw 25 trillion metric tons of rock, ash, and debris into Earth's atmosphere. This dangerous material, hotter than the sun's surface, sparked fires for thousands of miles. 

The asteroid's impact created an enormous hole in the Earth's crust. Almost immediately, bits of molten earth flew into the atmosphere where they cooled into glass particles called tektites. Within 15 minutes of the impact, tektites rained down on Earth and continued to do so for nearly an hour.

Recent evidence has shown these tektites traveled great distances; they took lives as far away as modern-day North Dakota. A fossil site there shows evidence of a mass extinction due to the asteroid impact and the subsequent events. The glass beads are believed to have burned vegetation when they landed due to their immense heat, and they fell in such high density that they clogged fishes' gills.

When the meteor struck the Yucatan peninsula, it created a blast of air that shredded the surrounding land. According to scholars, winds reached speeds of over 600 mph. The air blast and accompanying shock wave completely wiped out life within 900 miles. Plants were shredded, animals were pulverized, and only a barren wasteland remained. 

At the Tanis site in North Dakota, the day of the asteroid's arrival is trapped in stone. Less than 10 minutes after impact, a 30-foot wave crashed into the Tanis site. The wave threw thousands of fish onto a sandbar, trapping them as the water receded.

Sturgeon gasped on the muddy sandbar as fiery hot tektites rained down on the fish for 10-20 minutes.