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Sunday, October 4, 2026 · UTC
Asteroids & Planetary Defense

Chicxulub crater samples continue to refine dinosaur extinction timeline

Core material drilled from the ancient asteroid impact site remains the primary record for the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.

Caleb Mbeki
Planetary Science Reporter
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The asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago and triggered the end-Cretaceous mass extinction created a long lasting hydrothermal system on the ocean floor at the impact site [1]. The impact landed on what is now the partially submerged Yucatan Peninsula. Researchers drilled core samples from the crater structure in 2016 to study the rock types formed immediately after the strike [2][3]. Argon-argon dating techniques, which have previously been used to date this extinction event, have been applied to the recovered material [4].
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What this stands on
  1. The Chicxulub asteroid struck Earth approximately 66 million years ago, causing tsunamis and dropping hot debris that annihilated non-avian dinosaurs and many other species. · arstechnica.com
  2. The asteroid impact hit what is now the partially submerged Yucatan Peninsula, generating enough heat to create a hydrothermal system at the bottom of the ocean. · arstechnica.com
  3. Researchers drilled for samples in the impact zone in 2016 to study the types of rock formed as a result of the asteroid strike. · arstechnica.com
  4. Argon-argon dating has already been used to study major moments in Earth history, including the asteroid impact and mass extinction that ended the age of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. · ZME Science
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