The space rock that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago scaled to almost 10 kilometers in size. It smashed right on the surface of our planet and affected many of the prehistoric creatures, with most of them pushed to extinction. Throughout the history of geophysical and astronomical studies, pieces of evidence about the dino-killer Chicxulub reveals its true nature. In a recent study, the experts theorized that they have finally identified the origin of the dark space rock.
What is Dark Primitive Asteroids?
Chicxulub, a dark, primitive, massive space rock, smashed Earth millions of years ago, leading to a sudden mass extinction event. According to a report by Live Science, Chicxulub was previously a cosmic rock that belongs to the asteroid belt of our solar system. The asteroid belt comprises hundreds, if not, thousands of massive rocks that hover in the space between the red planet Mars and the titan Jupiter.
Dark primitive asteroids, despite the name, are just the typical asteroids with a unique chemical composition that allows minimal reflection of the sunlight, thus making themselves appear darker as opposed to the cluster that is most observable. Southwest Research Institute expert and principal author of the research David Nesvorný said that the essential terrestrial impactors are located at the dark primitive asteroid region in the farthest points of the asteroid belt. He theorizes that a larger dark primitive asteroid has a significant effect compared to the smaller impactors.
Chicxulub's clues had been studied before in its 145-kilometer crater located at the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. In one of the recent studies, fossilized megaripples were found around the crater that revealed the formation of a massive tsunami upon Chicxulub's impact.
Chicxulub's crater was also beneficial in the new study regarding the origin of the dark primitive asteroid, as it has remnants of asteroid fragments that could be the key to where dino-killer space rock came from. Based on the findings, the rocks discovered at the Chicxulub crater were identified to be carbonaceous chondrites.
Carbonaceous Chondrites and Inner Asteroid Belt Clue to Chixulub's Origin
Carbonaceous chondrites are a primitive meteorite class that is composed of high levels of carbon. The specified chemical was believed by the experts to have existed in the early age of our solar system. The research about Chicxulub being a part of the gigantic dark primitive asteroids was published in the journal Icarus, entitled "Dark primitive asteroids account for a large share of K/Pg-scale impacts on the Earth."
The theory of Chicxulub's origin has gone through several versions over time. For example, the space rock was speculated to originate from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, but the chemical composition did not match. In a separate account, Chicxulub was theorized to be a long-period comet, but the idea was later challenged in the journal Astronomy & Geophysics, entitled "The Chicxulub impactor: comet or asteroid?"
In conclusion, the theory published in Icarus provided stronger evidence of Chicxulub's potential origins. Nesvorný said that 60 percent of the recorded large terrestrial impactors similar to Chicxulub came from the asteroid belt region, which was abundant in dark primitive variants, and there are 3 possibilities out of 5 that the dino-killer space rock originated from the same region.
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