Chicxulub impact

Background

Around 66 million years ago, an asteroid struck Earth near the present-day Yucatán Peninsula. The Chicxulub crater is approximately 180 kilometres wide and largely buried. Iridium-rich boundary layers, shocked quartz and crater drilling link the impact to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, including non-avian dinosaurs. Dust and aerosols disrupted climate and food chains. Researchers also study the contribution of Deccan Traps volcanism; birds survived as a dinosaur lineage.

Sources: NASA — Sediment Swirls Off the Yucatán