Springtime Asteroid Hit Ramped Up Extinction Rates, Say Scientists

Having an asteroid slam into Earth was catastrophic for the dinosaurs, but the season of the strike may have substantially ramped up extinction rates for others species, research suggests. From a report: Scientists have found evidence that the devastating impact 66m years ago, which wiped out three-quarters of Earth's species and created the Chicxulub crater in modern-day Mexico, happened in the spring in the northern hemisphere. The timing means that many animals north of the equator would have been particularly vulnerable to the intense heatwave unleashed by the collision, having just emerged from the harsh months of winter. Other animals in the south may have fared better given that it was autumn, especially if they were hunkering down in burrows. The direct hit from the asteroid triggered an extreme global heatwave that proved lethal for many exposed animals. In the aftermath, temperatures are thought to have plummeted in a nuclear winter that drove many more species to extinction.

And we won't be around without it

[dremon]

It drove many species to extinction and at least one to uprising.

impact spherules

[Klaxton]

I had done some past reading about the impact but learned a couple of new things from the article;

'When the asteroid hit, it blasted molten rock into space, which crystallised and rained back to Earth as “impact spherules” the same day. The scientists found some of these spherules lodged in the gills of fossilised paddlefish and sturgeon excavated from a fossil site called Tanis in North Dakota.'

And then that the fish 'appear to have died when they were buried alive by sediment shaken up in the collision". So the shock waves traveling as far as North Dakota were strong enough to hit things pretty hard.

Yep, nuclear winter

[wakeboarder]

because, of course, the dinosaurs had nukes.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

As long as we're speculating in this vein...

[NoNonAlphaCharsHere]

Most new generations of animals are born early in the spring, to take advantage of spring and summer food supplies, thus fattening up the newborns before the dearth of fall and winter. So, to my thinking, a springtime meteor strike would cull almost an entire generation, which can't be a good thing for reasonably short-lived species.

June

[bill_mcgonigle]

The Taurids cross Earth in June and at Halloween.

Tunguska was Jun 30, 1908.

Many ancient tales related correlated impacts. There are some huge ones lurking out there and we're basically just not paying attention. Too focused on fighting and other forms of entertainment.

Re:

[nasch]

There are some huge ones lurking out there and we're basically just not paying attention.

We're definitely paying attention.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/n... [nasa.gov]

Another thing...

[zeeky boogy doog]

A geologist friend told me that where it landed made it an extra super "fuck you" to earth because it landed on a massive bed of gypsum.

So after the firestorm from hell, and before the nuclear winter, was worldwide acid rain from hell as a hundred billion tons of vaporized sulfur turned into sulfuric acid. And better still, after the dust settled and the nuclear winter abated came... global warming from hell because of hundreds of billions of tons of incinerated gypsum (which is a carbonate rock).

Research misquoted, not exactly a "heat wave".

[PJ6]

Read the article and I was like, gee, why would they write heat wave, but then not say how hot?

Revisiting wildfires at the K-Pg boundary [wiley.com]

The paper hypothesizes that outside of a 1.5K-3K radius from the impact site, where direct radiation would have cooked everything, wildfires may have been started by ejecta reentry. Basically, incandescent rock raining down from the sky and setting everything on fire.

Some might consider calling that a "heat wave" a little misleading.

More likely

[Trying2Understand]

I don't know about spring, but I bet the asteroid fell on Friday 13th.