Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Struck Earth at ‘Deadliest Possible Angle,’ New Research Suggests - Gizmodo

The impact delivered copious amounts of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and sulphur into the atmosphere, resulting in an impact winter that wiped out 75 percent of all life on Earth, including all non-avian dinosaurs.

The buried remnant of this event, the Chicxulub impact crater, is located in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and measures some 240 kilometers (150 miles) wide.

Scientists have struggled to pinpoint the precise incoming direction and impact angle of the asteroid.

This gap in our knowledge prompted Collins and his colleagues to perform detailed computer simulations of the cataclysmic event from the moment of impact through to the formation of the Chicxulub crater.

Specifically, the melting rocks released large amounts of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and sulphur, the latter of which was particularly problematic for life.

Carbon dioxide and water vapor are greenhouse gases, which also contributed to warming the planet.

Clay Tabor, a paleoclimatologist from the University of Connecticut, said the new study is providing insights into why the Chicxulub impact was so devastating to life on Earth.