The meteor that killed all dinosaurs: Explained

NORTH DAKOTA, US — Fossils at an excavation site in North Dakota, called Tanis, show details of what happened moments after the deadly asteroid responsible for the extinction of dinosaurs hit Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, according to a recent paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

According to National Geographic, the impact left a giant crater measuring 50 miles or roughly 80 kilometers wide, and 18 miles or roughly 30 kilometers deep. The collision catapulted tons of molten lava, vaporized rock and asteroid dust at high speeds.

The fallout covered the entire planet and led to the extinction of 75 percent of life on Earth and the end of the Cretaceous period.

In the recent study, paleontologists found fossils of fish, trees, terrestrial vertebrates, and marine creatures that had been flung to Tanis in the aftermath of the asteroid impact.

These reveal that roughly an hour after the asteroid hit Earth, debris from the collision turned into particles of glass that rained down for roughly 20 minutes. These particles are called tektites and were found inside the gills of fossilized fish and captured in amber from fossilized tree resin.

The deposits at Tanis are a result of magnitude 10 or 11 earthquakes caused by the asteroid crash that then triggered large waves, known as seiches, that sloshed water, sediments, and animals into areas now known as K-PG sites. Researchers believe these tsunamis reached Tanis roughly 17 hours after impact.

K-PG sites are part of the K-PG boundary, which is a sedimentary layer that marks the end of the Cretaceous period and the beginning of the Tertiary period.

According to the study's lead author Robert DePalma, these fossils are a window into the aftermath of one of the most impactful moments for life on Earth.

As human beings, we descended from a lineage that literally survived in the ashes of what was once the glorious kingdom of the dinosaurs. And we're the only species on the planet that has ever been capable of learning from such an event to the benefit of ourselves and every other organism in our world.