Dinosaur-killing asteroid struck Earth during northern spring, new study claims

A new study led by England's University of Manchester has revealed that the asteroid that wiped the dinosaurs out of existence hit the Earth during northern spring. The team of researchers arrived at this conclusion after examining the deposits which were formed 66 million years ago at the Tanis fossil site in North Dakota.

According to a Daily Mail report, the dinosaur-killing asteroid, which was almost 10 kilometres wide, slammed into today's Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico leaving a 150 kilometres wide crater and wiping out 75% of living species. 

How did the researchers know it was spring?

The experts are confident about their findings as they studied the deposits that were associated with the spring season. For instance, they analysed the fossil of fish bones preserved at the site along with the behaviour of insects such as reproduction in mayflies, which is a seasonal component. As per the study, the team looked at the fossilised fish bones to study the growth line, which reportedly holds clues about the life history of each animal and the season their growth stopped. A deep study about the growth lines revealed that all the fish died between spring to summer, which is considered a growth season. 

A chemical analysis technique called 'synchrotron-rapid-scanning X-Ray fluorescence' also verified this theory and hinted that the fish died during the said time period. Palaeontologist Loren Gurche from the University of Kansas and also the study author said as per Daily Mail-

Animal behaviour can be a pretty powerful tool, so we overlapped even more evidence, this time of seasonal insect behaviour, such as leaf-mining and mayfly activity. They all matched up. Everything points to the fact that the impact happened during the northern hemisphere equivalent of Spring to Summer months.

He further added that the data collection and its processing over the years have changed how scientists thought about mass extinction. It is said that the asteroid collision which wiped out the dinosaurs is a boundary between the Cretaceous and Palaeogene periods. Phil Manning, another study author and palaeontologist was reported saying as per Daily Mail that "The hindsight that the fossil record provides can yield critical data, which can be applied today, so that we might plan for tomorrow", meaning using the current data to avoid another mass extinction.

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