Yucatán Impact Vaporized Sulphur-Rich Rocks, Driving 75% Species Extinction 66 Million Years Ago
Updated
Updated · spacedaily.com · Aug 10
Yucatán Impact Vaporized Sulphur-Rich Rocks, Driving 75% Species Extinction 66 Million Years Ago
3 articles · Updated · spacedaily.com · Aug 10
Summary
A 10-kilometre asteroid that hit the Yucatán 66 million years ago likely turned local sulphate-rich rocks into atmospheric aerosols, helping trigger the global climate collapse tied to dinosaur extinction.
Chicxulub cores described in a 2019 PNAS study found about 130 metres of impact melt and debris but little of the site’s original sulphur-rich rock, supporting the view that much of it was vaporized and ejected.
A 2020 Nature Communications modelling study concluded the asteroid arrived from the north-east at a 45-to-60-degree angle, a trajectory especially effective at blasting climate-active gases and dust high into the atmosphere.
A 2024 study estimated lower sulphur release than earlier models, suggesting silicate dust and soot may explain more of the cooling even as the impact-driven extinction mechanism remains intact.
The broader lesson is that Chicxulub’s lethality depended not just on a large asteroid, but on where and how it struck—making target geology and impact angle central to planetary risk.
If the dinosaur-killing asteroid lacked sulphur, could mere dust and soot really plunge Earth into a deadly global winter?
Could the catastrophic Chicxulub impact hold the hidden secret to finding microbial life on Mars today?
Did the very asteroid that annihilated the dinosaurs also create an eight-million-year underground oasis for new life?
The Chicxulub Impact Revisited: New Sulfur Estimates Reveal a Milder K-Pg Winter and the True Kill Mechanism Behind Dinosaur Extinction
Overview
Sixty-six million years ago, the Chicxulub asteroid struck the Yucatán Peninsula, vaporizing sulfate-rich rocks and granite. This unleashed fine silicate dust and sulfur gases into the atmosphere. The dust stayed aloft for up to 15 years, blocking sunlight and causing a dramatic temperature drop, while sulfur formed reflective aerosols that cooled the planet and later returned as acid rain, stressing ecosystems. The resulting darkness triggered a collapse of photosynthesis and food webs, leading to mass extinction. However, new 2025 research shows less sulfur was released than previously thought, suggesting a milder impact winter that helped 25% of species survive through key adaptations.