Chicxulub impact
Also called: K-Pg extinction, end-Cretaceous extinction · Topic: Origin and Evolution of the Earth and the Solar System · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Chicxulub impact was an asteroid strike about 66 million years ago. It left a crater about 180 km wide, now buried under Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. It was the main cause of the end-Cretaceous (K-Pg) mass extinction, in which a large share of species died out in a short time, including the non-bird dinosaurs. Huge lava eruptions in the Deccan Traps added stress at the same time. The impact marks the end of the Mesozoic era.
Example
The buried crater lies at the northern edge of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. In India at about the same time, the Deccan Traps were pouring out layer after layer of basalt lava.
Don't confuse with
- End-Permian extinction: about 252 million years ago and the worst of the Big Five extinctions. It is linked to Siberian Traps volcanism, not to Chicxulub.
- K-Pg extinction: this is the dying-out itself. Chicxulub is the impact that mainly caused it.