WASHINGTON: An intense debate surrounding the cosmic rock that killed the dinosaurs has stirred scientists for decades, but a new study has revealed some important — and far-out — data about the impactor’s origin story.

Researchers, whose findings were published on Thursday in the journal Science, used an innovative technique to demonstrate that the apocalyptic culprit which slammed into the Earth’s surface 66 million years ago, causing the most recent mass extinction, had formed beyond Jupiter’s orbit. They also refute the idea that it was a comet.

The new insights into the apparent asteroid that cratered into Chicxulub, in what is present-day Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, could improve the understanding of celestial objects that have struck our planet.

“Now we can, with all this knowledge... say that this asteroid initially formed beyond Jupiter,” Mario Fischer-Godde, lead author of the study and a geochemist at the University of Cologne, said. The conclusions are particularly notable, given how rarely this type of asteroid collides with Earth.

‘Samples’

The new findings are based on analysis of sediment samples formed at the period between the Cretaceous and Paleogene eras, the time of the asteroid’s cataclysmic impact.

Researchers measured the isotopes of the element ruthenium, not uncommon on asteroids but extremely rare on Earth. So by inspecting the deposits in multiple geological layers that mark the debris from the impact at Chicxulub, they could be sure that the ruthenium studied came “100 per cent from this asteroid.” “Our lab in Cologne is one of the rare labs that can do these measurements,” and it was the first time such study techniques were used on impact debris layers, Fischer-Godde said.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2024