The asteroid that killed dinosaurs and caused a mass extinction event on Earth caused a slow death of life on the planet. After the asteroid hit, Earth was covered in darkness - with black soot plunging most parts of planet into darkness.
What this means is that the asteroid impact wasn't the only factor that contributed to end of life on Earth during the extinction event. When some parts of Earth were covered in darkness, access to sunlight was essentially lost. And all creatures on Earth are dependent on sunlight for energy and nutrients. Indirectly, all life on Earth is powered by Sun.
When geographical territories lost access to sunlight, life slowly started dying out in the months to follow - eventually causing the collapse of ecosystems on Earth.
The asteroid struck Earth about 66 million years ago and created dense clouds of ash and particles that covered the atmosphere. According to an estimate by Space.com, darkness would have "persisted for up to two years" after the asteroid impact.
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With no sunlight, no photosynthesis happened aka adios plant life! A research presented on December 16 at the annual gathering of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), scientists explained how even after years when the sunlight started returning to Earth, ecosystems experienced decline for decades that followed.
The impact for the 12 kilometre asteroid effectively ended the Cretaceous period on Earth - hitting the planet at a speed of 43,000 kilometres/hour. Its legacy - the Chicxulub crater is currently underwater in the Gulf of Mexico. Responsible for killing 75 per cent life on Earth, the impact killed all non-avian dinosaurs.
To understand the impact of asteroid on ecosystems, scientists recreated conditions that would existed right after the collision. They used 300 species from the Hell Creek Formation situated in the US. This region is rich in fossils and dates back to the latter stages of the Cretaceous period.
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By creating simulations of ecosystems exposed to prolonged darkness (between 100-700 days), scientists found that most communities recovered if the darkness withdrew after 150 days. But 200 days marked a critical threshold for the survival of different species. It is during this period that most species went extinct. Between 650-700 days of darkness, about 65-81 per cent of all species in the simulation died.
Did you know that the asteroid impact had far-reaching consequences for all species on Earth? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.?For more in the world of?technology?and?science, keep reading?Indiatimes.com.
Citation
Weisberger, M. (2021, December 30). Darkness caused by dino-killing asteroid snuffed out life on Earth in 9 months. Space.Com.?