A recent study of the Chicxulub—the asteroid that destroyed dinosaurs sixty million years ago—found that it also caused a mega-tsunami that spread all over the globe.

According to Fox News, scientists recreated the impact of the nine-mile-wide asteroid by using a three-dimensional computer simulation program called hydrocode. This program modeled the first 10 minutes of the event, including crater formation, tsunami initiation, and impact.

The lead researcher at the University of Michigan, Molly Range, stated the following:

“This tsunami was strong enough to disturb and erode sediments in ocean basins halfway around the globe, leaving either a gap in the sedimentary records or a jumble of older sediments.”

The simulation showed how the tsunami spread outside the Gulf of Mexico and into the North Atlantic. Within four hours, waves had moved through Central America’s seaway and into the Pacific Ocean. By forty-eight hours, the Chicxulub asteroid crashed into Earth, and the tsunami waves reached the world’s coastline.

Paleontologist and evolutionary biologist Steve Brusatte recently highlighted the dinosaur tracks found in the Paluxy River, located in Texas. He also traces the evolution of dinosaurs during the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods in his book, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World.

Until Next Time…

(Sources)

Photo Credit: Space

Video Credit: Fox News

Nieto, P. (2022, October 20). Study says asteroid that killed the dinosaurs also caused a global tsunami. Fox News. Retrieved October 30, 2022, from https://www.foxnews.com/science/study-says-asteroid-killed-dinosaurs-also-caused-global-tsunami