A study published today (April 1) in PNAS describes evidence from a fossil site in North Dakota that researchers say tells the tale of what happened on the day of the Chicxulub asteroid collision 66 million years ago, which may have led to the extinction of dinosaurs.
The study highlights fossilized specimens, including fish, trees, and marine ammonites, all of which were deposited by large surges of water caused by the asteroid impact, which occurred near the modern-day Gulf of Mexico. Researchers explain in the paper that the shock of the impact was equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude 10 or 11. This may have led to seiche waves, oscillating movements of water in lakes, bays, or gulfs, that eventually reached the site in North Dakota.
“It basically agitates water like a washing machine,” paleontologist and coauthor Phillip Manning of the University of Manchester tells The New York Times.
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