Breakup of a long-period comet as the origin of the dinosaur extinction

Abstract The origin of the Chicxulub impactor, which is attributed as the cause of the K/T mass extinction event, is an unsolved puzzle. The background impact rates of main-belt asteroids and long-period comets have been previously dismissed as being too low to explain the Chicxulub impact event. He...

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Autores principales:	Amir Siraj, Abraham Loeb
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/9b825e3198e94a25bf4f344e926bcfbb
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:9b825e3198e94a25bf4f344e926bcfbb2021-12-02T12:11:12ZBreakup of a long-period comet as the origin of the dinosaur extinction10.1038/s41598-021-82320-22045-2322https://doaj.org/article/9b825e3198e94a25bf4f344e926bcfbb2021-02-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-82320-2https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract The origin of the Chicxulub impactor, which is attributed as the cause of the K/T mass extinction event, is an unsolved puzzle. The background impact rates of main-belt asteroids and long-period comets have been previously dismissed as being too low to explain the Chicxulub impact event. Here, we show that a fraction of long-period comets are tidally disrupted after passing close to the Sun, each producing a collection of smaller fragments that cross the orbit of Earth. This population could increase the impact rate of long-period comets capable of producing Chicxulub impact events by an order of magnitude. This new rate would be consistent with the age of the Chicxulub impact crater, thereby providing a satisfactory explanation for the origin of the impactor. Our hypothesis explains the composition of the largest confirmed impact crater in Earth’s history as well as the largest one within the last million years. It predicts a larger proportion of impactors with carbonaceous chondritic compositions than would be expected from meteorite falls of main-belt asteroids.Amir SirajAbraham LoebNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-5 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Amir Siraj Abraham Loeb Breakup of a long-period comet as the origin of the dinosaur extinction
description	Abstract The origin of the Chicxulub impactor, which is attributed as the cause of the K/T mass extinction event, is an unsolved puzzle. The background impact rates of main-belt asteroids and long-period comets have been previously dismissed as being too low to explain the Chicxulub impact event. Here, we show that a fraction of long-period comets are tidally disrupted after passing close to the Sun, each producing a collection of smaller fragments that cross the orbit of Earth. This population could increase the impact rate of long-period comets capable of producing Chicxulub impact events by an order of magnitude. This new rate would be consistent with the age of the Chicxulub impact crater, thereby providing a satisfactory explanation for the origin of the impactor. Our hypothesis explains the composition of the largest confirmed impact crater in Earth’s history as well as the largest one within the last million years. It predicts a larger proportion of impactors with carbonaceous chondritic compositions than would be expected from meteorite falls of main-belt asteroids.
format	article
author	Amir Siraj Abraham Loeb
author_facet	Amir Siraj Abraham Loeb
author_sort	Amir Siraj
title	Breakup of a long-period comet as the origin of the dinosaur extinction
title_short	Breakup of a long-period comet as the origin of the dinosaur extinction
title_full	Breakup of a long-period comet as the origin of the dinosaur extinction
title_fullStr	Breakup of a long-period comet as the origin of the dinosaur extinction
title_full_unstemmed	Breakup of a long-period comet as the origin of the dinosaur extinction
title_sort	breakup of a long-period comet as the origin of the dinosaur extinction
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/9b825e3198e94a25bf4f344e926bcfbb
work_keys_str_mv	AT amirsiraj breakupofalongperiodcometastheoriginofthedinosaurextinction AT abrahamloeb breakupofalongperiodcometastheoriginofthedinosaurextinction
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Breakup of a long-period comet as the origin of the dinosaur extinction

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