The Damage from Asteroid Killing Dinosaurs Was Worse Than Expected

KOMPAS.com – A study finds new evidence of impact after asteroid destroyer dinosaur hit Earth, 66 million years ago.

The study said a large amount of sulfur whose volume was more than previously thought was thrown into the Earth’s stratosphere.

After being thrown into the air, the huge cloud of gas containing sulfur then blocks the Sun and cools the Earth for decades to centuries.

It’s not over yet. The new study finds these sulfur-laden clouds then fall as deadly acid rain on Earth, altering the chemistry of the oceans for tens of thousands of years.

Also read: The Most Complete Triceratops Dinosaur Fossil Finds Reveals Its Life in the Past

“We have underestimated the amount of sulfur created by this asteroid impact,” said James Witts, study researcher and lecturer at the University of Bristol in England.

As a result, climate change associated with the event is much greater than previously thought.

The fact that sulfur has continued to flow to the Earth’s surface for so long could help explain why it takes so long for life, especially in the oceans, to recover. This is because some of the sulfur that falls on land is then also washed away into the ocean.

Accidental discovery

Citing Live Science, Tuesday (22/3/2022), this finding actually happened by chance.

“It wasn’t something that was planned at all,” Witts said.

The research team originally planned to study the geochemistry of ancient shells near the Brazos River in Falls County, Texas. This place was underwater during the Late Cretaceous extinction, when non-avian dinosaurs became extinct.

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