Asteroid Dust Found in Crater Closes Case of Dinosaur Extinction
AUSTIN, Texas — Researchers believe they have closed the case of what killed the dinosaurs, definitively linking their extinction with an asteroid that
news.utexas.eduThe latest consensus is that the asteroid was roughly 10–15 kilometers (6–9 miles) in diameter, with a Chicxulub-scale impact crater about 180 kilometers (112 miles) across . Estimates over the past few years have generally converged around this size range, though exact dimensions depend on the specifics of the impact and crater reconstruction .[7]
Key points you might find useful:
- The impact occurred about 66 million years ago at the Yucatán Peninsula, creating the Chicxulub crater and triggering global consequences that contributed to the dinosaur extinction .[7]
- Some sources discuss a 9–12 km range, while others cite 10–15 km as the approximate diameter; the broader scientific view supports roughly a 10–15 km size, with the crater diameter being far larger due to explosion dynamics .[1][3]
- Newer reviews continue to refine the asteroid’s composition and impact effects, but the diameter range above remains a common benchmark in educational and scientific summaries .[4]
If you’d like, I can pull the most recent primary sources or summarize how the size estimates are inferred from crater dimensions, iridium layers, and crater imaging. I can also provide a short, cited reading list in Prague-friendly access.