New Evidence Points to Asteroid as Cause of Dinosaur Extinction

Carbon cycle modeling and paleotemperature records argue that an asteroid impact—not volcanic fumes—was the main driver of the dinosaur die-off.

Written byAmy Schleunes

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Amassive asteroid impact is likely to blame for the extinction event that marks the end of the Cretaceous period, according to a study published today (January 17) in Science.

Researchers led by Pincelli Hull of Yale University used deep-sea sediment cores extracted from the North Atlantic to investigate ocean carbon cycling and temperature shifts during the widespread disappearance of species around 66 million years ago, the cause of which is the subject of hot debate.

Some researchers argue that volcanic gases in India’s Deccan Traps were the main driver of the extinctions, while others propose that the impact of a giant asteroid, 10 km in diameter, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula was the most probable cause.

“A lot of people have wanted to argue that both the impact and the volcanism mattered in the extinction,” says Hull to The New York Times. “And what we’re seeing is, ...

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Meet the Author

Amy Schleunes
A former intern at The Scientist, Amy studied neurobiology at Cornell University and later earned her MFA in creative writing from the University of Iowa. She is a Los Angeles–based writer, editor, and communications strategist who collaborates on nonfiction books for Harper Collins and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and also teaches writing at Johns Hopkins University CTY. Her favorite projects involve sharing the insights of science and medicine.
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