Author: Derek Beres / Source: Big Think
- The asteroid that crashed into the Yucatan caused a mile-high tsunami.
- The wave was 52 times higher and 2,600 times more energetic than the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed over 227,000 people.
- Sediment was disturbed 3,700 miles from the site of the crash.
Becoming a fossil is no easy matter. There are a number of conditions that have to be met, according to Paige Williams, author of The Dinosaur Artist. You can’t be eaten by scavengers; the weather must not scatter your remains; your burial must be immediately, soil conditions pending — bonus points for sedimentary rock. Indeed, you have to hope natural forces create a proper grave for your teeth and bones.
Then, to even start to be scientifically useful, you must be discovered.
Less than one percent of the world’s animals are fossilized, but what a treasure trove they provide. Without them we’d have never calculated the age of the planet or understood evolution. We’d never have realized the continents were once united or that climate change had taken place before. Perhaps worst of all, we’d have no museums to lose ourselves in wonder inside.
Evolution is slow, yet sometimes a catalyst speeds along the planetary forces. We’ve long known an asteroid smashing into the Yucatan was responsible for decimating the dinosaurs whose fossils we so revere today. Sixty-six million years ago a minor planet made a major impact known as the Chicxulub crater. What we didn’t know, but now do thanks to new research by paleoceanographer Molly Range, is that the crash created a mile-high tsunami that spread across a sizable portion of the planet.
Simulation of tsunami produced by Chicxulub impact
To put this into perspective, geologist Trevor Nace…
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