"Unlucky" dinosaurs: no extinction if asteroid had hit almost any other part of Earth

[muriel_volestrangler]

The massive asteroid that slammed into Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs might never have triggered a mass extinction had it struck almost any other part of the planet, scientists claim.

In work that reveals just how unlucky the prehistoric beasts were, researchers calculate that the odds of the enormous space rock wreaking such havoc were low across 87% of the Earth’s surface.

Unfortunately for the dinosaurs, the 9km-wide asteroid thumped into the ground in what is now Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, where the concentration of hydrocarbons in the rocks was so high that the soot and sulphate aerosols sent into the sky caused global cooling and drought. The impact crater near the town of Chicxulub is 180km wide and 20km deep.

Writing in the journal Scientific Reports, Kunio Kaiho and Naga Oshima at Tohoku University in Japan describe calculations that suggest only 13% of the Earth’s surface harboured rich enough hydrocarbon deposits to cause a mass extinction in the event of such a devastating impact.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/nov/09/unlucky-dinosaurs-no-extinction-if-asteroid-had-hit-almost-any-other-part-of-earth

Which raises the question of whether we know about similar size rocks hitting the Earth more frequently in the other areas, or if we know they didn't, or if we really don't know how often such asteroids have hit us.

[Binkie The Clown]

2. Proof positive that aliens guided the asteroid right it would do the most good.

"I'm not saying it was aliens, but..." Oh, wait, I AM saying it was aliens.

(Who cares if it's true or not. It's fun to believe anyway. )