Stage One - The Chicxulub Impactor Origin Theory and how Asteroids enter the Earth's Atmosphere.
Origin Theory
The Chicxulub Impactor is an asteroid whose origin is unknown. A theory orchestrated by David Nesvorný, William F. Bottke and David Vokrouhlický however suggests that it is part of the Baptistina family of asteroids which was the result of a collision in the Asteroid Belt 160 million years ago (2). This theory is supported by the evidence of carbonaceous material that is present in microscopic fragments of the Impactor (2). This means that it is part of a rare class of asteroids called carbonaceous chondrites which is something that the Chicxulub Impactor has in common with the Baptistina asteroid family (2). Orbit Disruption …show more content…
Smaller objects will burn up in our atmosphere, this is because as it travels from a vacuum into air, the high speed that the object is traveling at, will cause the air to compress and in turn become hot. Meaning that air will burn the object, preventing it from colliding with the Earth's crust (5). This is shown at night as a shooting star (3). However, although our atmosphere may mitigate the impact, larger objects like the Chicxulub Impactor, can make it into our atmosphere and begin plummeting towards the Earth's surface (1). When it hits the ground, because of its high speed and large size, the impact creates a crater and can cause great physical and biospheric consequences to the planet …show more content…
Mass extinction is, "the extinction of a large number of species within a relatively short period of geological time, thought to be due to factors such as a catastrophic global event or widespread environmental change that occurs too rapidly for most species to adapt." - dictionary.com (1).
The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction event occurred 66 million years ago. This event meant the extinction of 75% of the Earth's organisms, including the non-avian dinosaurs (2). Many scientists believe that it is the result of the Chicxulub impact because of a theory postulated by physicist Luis Alvarez and his son, geologist Walter Alvarez (2). This theory suggests that the extinction event could have been caused by an impact the size of the Chicxulub impact. Further supporting this theory is the fact that the age of the rocks around the impact crater coincide with the age of the K-Pg boundary (66 million years ago)
Origin Theory
The Chicxulub Impactor is an asteroid whose origin is unknown. A theory orchestrated by David Nesvorný, William F. Bottke and David Vokrouhlický however suggests that it is part of the Baptistina family of asteroids which was the result of a collision in the Asteroid Belt 160 million years ago (2). This theory is supported by the evidence of carbonaceous material that is present in microscopic fragments of the Impactor (2). This means that it is part of a rare class of asteroids called carbonaceous chondrites which is something that the Chicxulub Impactor has in common with the Baptistina asteroid family (2). Orbit Disruption …show more content…
Smaller objects will burn up in our atmosphere, this is because as it travels from a vacuum into air, the high speed that the object is traveling at, will cause the air to compress and in turn become hot. Meaning that air will burn the object, preventing it from colliding with the Earth's crust (5). This is shown at night as a shooting star (3). However, although our atmosphere may mitigate the impact, larger objects like the Chicxulub Impactor, can make it into our atmosphere and begin plummeting towards the Earth's surface (1). When it hits the ground, because of its high speed and large size, the impact creates a crater and can cause great physical and biospheric consequences to the planet …show more content…
Mass extinction is, "the extinction of a large number of species within a relatively short period of geological time, thought to be due to factors such as a catastrophic global event or widespread environmental change that occurs too rapidly for most species to adapt." - dictionary.com (1).
The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction event occurred 66 million years ago. This event meant the extinction of 75% of the Earth's organisms, including the non-avian dinosaurs (2). Many scientists believe that it is the result of the Chicxulub impact because of a theory postulated by physicist Luis Alvarez and his son, geologist Walter Alvarez (2). This theory suggests that the extinction event could have been caused by an impact the size of the Chicxulub impact. Further supporting this theory is the fact that the age of the rocks around the impact crater coincide with the age of the K-Pg boundary (66 million years ago)