The Earth was struck by a miles-wide asteroid 66 million years ago, eradicating nearly all dinosaur species as well as about three-quarters of plant and animal species.
According to recent research led by the University of Michigan, it also unleashed a terrifying tsunami with miles-high waves that ravaged the ocean floor thousands of miles from the impact site on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
Chicxulub Impact Tsunami
The study marks the first global simulation of the Chicxulub impact tsunami to be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. It was posted online on October 4 in the journal AGU Advances.
Additionally, U-M researchers examined the geological history at more than 100 locations across the globe and discovered proof that their models' projections regarding the tsunami's path and force are accurate.
Lead author Molly Range stated that the tsunami was powerful enough to disrupt and erode sediments in ocean basins halfway around the world, leaving either a gap in the geological records or a mishmash of earlier sediments.
The asteroid that hit the Yucatan Peninsula of modern-day Mexico, known as the Chicxulub asteroid, had traveled from the edge of the Solar System.
The initial ten minutes after impact and the following ripple effects throughout the oceans of the world were modeled by the team. The Chicxulub impact's initial blast moved so much water that it created a wave that was around 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) high.
Long before the ocean had a chance to fill the gaping crater, it had flooded back in, only to ricochet off the edge and produce new waves.
From that point, tsunami waves up to 10 meters (33 feet) tall moved at a speed of 1 meter per second across the deep ocean to lash at coasts all around the world.
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Largest and Fastest Moving Waves
The open seas of the Gulf of Mexico saw the generation of the largest and fastest-moving waves, which rose to a height of more than 100 meters (328 feet) and moved at a speed of more than 100 meters per second.
The researchers also speculate that tsunami formation in this area may have been influenced by undersea landslides and earthquakes.
The North Atlantic and the South Pacific, where the tsunami waves traveled more quickly than 20 centimeters per second, saw the most geological upheaval.
"The most telling confirmation of the global significance of the impact tsunami is the highly disturbed and incomplete sections on the eastern shores of North and South Islands of New Zealand," Range said in a statement.
"These sites lie directly in the path of the tsunami propagation, more than 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles) distant from the impact location," Range added.
The researchers' next line of investigation will focus on how the Chicxulub asteroid might have triggered a series of tsunamis that were propelled by enormous atmospheric shockwaves.
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Written by Jace Dela Cruz
