This tiny stone may be a fragment of the meteorite that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs



Share

Some fragments extracted from fossilized amber do not correspond to limestone. The theory is that they are fragments of the meteorite.

An archeological dig at Hell Creek in North Dakota may have been the birthplace of one of the most important discoveries of the century. This location is already famous for having been the place where numerous dinosaur fossils have been discovered, but delving into the findings, experts have discovered something else. In a piece of amber, preserved for millions of years, can be trapped a small fragment of the asteroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs more than 65 million years ago.

The supposed meteorite fragments were inside a piece of fossilized amber

The paleontologist Robert DePalma has been the one who has directed the investigation that has led to this incredible discovery. At the North Dakota site they found remains of fish, turtles and even dinosaur limbsBut that wasn’t what caught DePalma’s attention. The most revealing were some sediments found inside a piece of amber preserved fossilized for millions of years. This is how DePalma explained it to CNN:



“In that amber we have located a series of spherules that were basically frozen in time. Just as an insect gets trapped in amber and ends up perfectly preserved, when these spherules entered the amber, water couldn’t reach them. Consequently, they never turned to clay, and that is why today we have been able to analyze them.”

There is nothing new in finding fossilized earth or mud in this type of excavation, but some of these fragments showed something special. Most of the material that was extracted from amber was fossilized limestone, with a high calcium component in its structure. DePalma has revealed that he probably came from the Yucatan peninsula, but in the version of him from 65 million years ago.

Some fragments did not coincide with the structure of the terrestrial soil, they were of cosmic origin

However, there were two tiny fragments that had nothing to do with limestone. At first, the researchers believed that it was sediment of some kind, probably generated by the impact of the asteroid on Earth. Then they realized that that type of stone was not found on our planet:

“Two of these fragments had a very different composition. You had spikes in chromium and nickel in your structure, along with some other elements that are only common in meteoritic material. Based on our preliminary analysis…these fragments are almost with security of cosmic origin”

If it is true that these fragments come from space, the logical thing is that they belonged to the asteroid that hit the Earth and caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. NASA has spoken out explaining that, if its authenticity is confirmed, it would be a historic and extraordinary discovery for society.

This new satellite leaves us breathtaking images of the Earth taken from space

Related topics: Science

Share



Related News

Star Wars: A second season of Obi-Wan Kenobi is still possible

Yesterday the sixth and final episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi, a TV series that saw Ewan McGregor reprise the role of the legendary Jedi master interpreted in the

Because pixels are never enough: Samsung brings an even more powerful 200 Mpx lens!

The megapixel race continues. Less than a year ago, Samsung introduced the ISOCELL HP1, the first lens with a record 200 Mpx resolution, which should soon

Amazon Alexa will be able to imitate the voices of dead loved ones

The company announced Wednesday during its annual Re:MARS conference, which focuses on artificial intelligence innovation, that it's working on an update to

TikTok-owner ByteDance’s aggressive mobile gaming push is paying off as player spending soars

Chinese Internet giant ByteDance's early foray into gaming is showing signs of promise to spend the past year on its mobile titles as it challenges rivals

A new spyware ‘Hermit’ is targeting high-profile Android users, warns Google

Discover the Future of SaaS in India The 6-part video series will capture the vision of Indian SaaS leaders and highlight the potential of the sector in the