May
29
/ 2020
New simulations from Imperial College London have revealed the asteroid that doomed the dinosaurs struck Earth at the 'deadliest possible' angle. The simulations show that the asteroid hit Earth at an angle of about 60 degrees, which maximized the amount of climate-changing gases thrust into the upper atmosphere. Such a strike likely unleashed billions of tonnes of sulphur, blocking the Sun and triggering the nuclear winter that killed the dinosaurs and 75 per cent of life on Earth 66 million years ago. Drawn from a combination of 3D numerical impact simulations and geophysical data from the site of the impact, the new models are the first ever fully 3D simulations to reproduce the whole event - from the initial impact
