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Chicxulub impact predates the K-T boundary mass extinction
Gerta Keller1, Thierry Adatte, Wolfgang Stinnesbeck
1Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA. gkeller@princeton.edu
Summary
The Chicxulub impact crater, long believed to have caused the dinosaur extinction, actually occurred 300,000 years before the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary event. New core evidence suggests this asteroid impact did not cause the mass extinction.
Area of Science:
- Geology
- Paleontology
- Earth Science
Background:
- The Chicxulub crater has been widely accepted as evidence for an asteroid impact causing the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) mass extinction.
- This impact event is hypothesized to have occurred 65 million years ago, leading to the extinction of dinosaurs and other species.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the age of the Chicxulub impact event using a previously unexamined core sample.
- To determine if the Chicxulub impact predates the K-T boundary mass extinction.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of the Yaxcopoil-1 core drilled within the Chicxulub crater.
- Utilized five independent proxies: sedimentology, biostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, stable isotopes, and iridium analysis.
- Correlated findings with existing data on microtektite deposits.
Main Results:
- Evidence from the Yaxcopoil-1 core indicates the Chicxulub impact occurred approximately 300,000 years before the K-T boundary.
- Multiple independent analyses consistently point to a pre-K-T boundary age for the impact.
- Findings align with prior research suggesting a late Maastrichtian age for related microtektite deposits.
Conclusions:
- The Chicxulub impact event predates the K-T mass extinction.
- The asteroid impact widely associated with the end-Cretaceous extinction did not cause it.
- Re-evaluation of the impact's timing is necessary for understanding the K-T mass extinction event.