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The sulfurous dust that helped to do in the dinosaurs

An asteroid strike kicked sulfur-infused dust so high that it contributed to catastrophic cooling 66 million years ago.
Illustration of the last days of dinosaurs during the Cretaceous Period, caused by a giant asteroid impact at Chicxulub.

The extinction of the dinosaurs was triggered in part by high levels of sunlight-blocking sulfur in the atmosphere. Credit: Getty

The catastrophic Chicxulub asteroid impact 66 million years ago launched enormous quantities of sulfur into the stratosphere, rock chemistry suggests. This sulfur enhanced global cooling that contributed to the dinosaurs’ demise1.

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Nature 603, 768 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00831-y

References

  1. Junium, C. K. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 119, e2119194119 (2022).

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