9 December 2023 The Future is the Product of the Past

Scientists may have discovered pieces of the Asteroid that caused the extinction of the Dinosaurs

Scientists are piecing together remnants of the day the extinction of the dinosaurs began. A tiny fragment of the asteroid that hit Earth 66 million years ago may have been found encased in amber.

It is one of the few incredible discoveries made at a unique archeological site in Hell Creek, North Dakota. At the North Dakota site — called Tanis — some of the spherules have been preserved in amber, the Times reported.

The fossils unearthed there are the remains of fish that sucked up debris thrown during the impact, a turtle, and a leg that could have belonged to a dinosaur that was a “witness” to the asteroid impact.

The story of the discoveries is revealed in a new documentary called “Dinosaur Apocalypse,” which features naturalist Sir David Attenborough and paleontologist Robert DePalma and airs Wednesday on the PBS show “Nova.”

This amber may contain a piece of the asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago
This amber may contain a piece of the asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago. Photo: CNN

The Tanis fossil site is home to thousands of well-preserved fish fossils, which DePalma believes were buried alive by sediment displaced by a massive wave of water caused by the asteroid’s impact. Unlike tsunamis, which can take hours to land after an earthquake at sea, these waves appeared instantly after the massive asteroid crashed into the sea.

Robert DePalma, an adjunct professor and University of Manchester graduate student, said Tanis researchers have found spherules containing pieces of unmelted rock. When testing the fragments, they discovered that not only did they contain portions of limestone crust from the impact crater thousands of miles away, but some pieces included high amounts of iron, nickel, and chromium.

These elements are consistent with asteroid material, and could possibly be from the one that collided with Earth that fateful day.

DePalma and his collaborators also found several spheres of impact, namely small pieces of the asteroid, which stopped in tree resin on the surface of a log and were preserved in amber.

The Tanis fossil site in North Dakota would have been a swampy rainforest 66 million years ago.
The Tanis fossil site in North Dakota would have been a swampy rainforest 66 million years ago.

“In that amber, I found a series of spheres that were practically frozen in time, because, like an insect in amber, which is perfectly preserved, the water could not reach them. They have never turned into clay and are perfectly preserved,” he said.

DePalma said he hopes to be able to confirm what the asteroid was made of and where it could come from – efforts that have caught NASA’s attention.

“All these little dirty nuggets in there,” DePalma said during a speech at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center this week, according to the outlet. “Every single speck that takes away from this beautiful clear glass is a piece of debris.”

“To see a piece of the culprit is just a goose-bumpy experience,” he added.

As the Times notes, DePalma’s findings have not been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.

Related Articles

Ancient tomb with prayer-related murals found in China’s Shanxi

25 December 2021

25 December 2021

Archaeologists in north China’s Shanxi Province have found an ancient tomb dating back to the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) with murals...

Rare Five Bronze Age Axes found in the Forests of Poland

5 December 2023

5 December 2023

Archaeologists in Poland have discovered five Bronze Age axes in Starogard Forest District, located in Kociewie. A metal detectorist named...

DNA from 20,000-year-old deer-tooth pendant reveals woman who wore it

4 May 2023

4 May 2023

A pendant made of a deer tooth that was exposed to DNA about 20,000 years ago has yielded clues about...

7,000 years ago the earliest evidence for the cultivation of a fruit tree came from the Jordan valley

17 June 2022

17 June 2022

Tel Aviv University and Jerusalem’s Hebrew University researchers have unraveled the earliest evidence for the domestication of a fruit tree....

Ancient terracotta dancers, and musicians unearthed in China

13 November 2022

13 November 2022

Chinese archaeologists recently discovered a large group of terracotta figurines from a tomb in a group dating to the Northern...

Archaeologists discover ‘exceptional’ ancient Roman sanctuary in near intact condition in Netherlands

23 June 2022

23 June 2022

Archaeologists have unearthed a relatively intact 1st-century Roman sanctuary in the town of Herwen-Hemeling in the province of Gelderland in...

Treasure hunters revealed a 2,700-year-old Urartian temple In the east of Turkey

18 June 2022

18 June 2022

Treasure hunters revealed a 2,700-year-old Urartian temple A group of treasure hunters, who were digging illegally to find treasure in...

The ancient city of Kastabala will soon have a colonnaded Street

4 September 2021

4 September 2021

The archaeological excavation of the ancient city of Kastabala in Osmaniye Province in southern Turkey continues. Kastabala-Hierapolis is one of...

A secret chamber has been found in the famous Gorham Cave Complex

29 September 2021

29 September 2021

A cave chamber sealed off by sand for some 40,000 years has been discovered in Vanguard Cave inside the Gorham’s...

Hebrew University Archaeologists have Unveiled 7,000-year-old Seal İmpressions

10 June 2021

10 June 2021

Israeli archaeologists unveiled a 7,000-year-old clay seal impression used for commerce and protection of property, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem...

The 3400-year-old city belonging to a mysterious Kingdom emerged from the Tigris river

30 May 2022

30 May 2022

Archaeologists from Germany and Kurdistan have discovered a 3,400-year-old Mittani Empire-era city on the Tigris River. The ruins emerged on...

Archaeologists find 4 Umayyad epigraphs in the ancient city Knidos

24 May 2022

24 May 2022

Archaeological excavations in the ancient city of Knidos connected to Datça District of Muğla province in western Turkey have unearthed...

Getting to Know Matar Kubilea

8 February 2021

8 February 2021

Hittite state’s, With its collapse in 1200-1190 BC, Anatolia entered a period of drift from holistic to dispersal. (The Hittite...

Gold glass ‘Roma’ unearthed in the excavations of the Rome subway

7 February 2023

7 February 2023

A very rare and refined piece of gold glass representing ‘Roma’, the woman symbol of the Eternal City, has been...

The rich-poor distinction draws attention in the nutrition of the inhabitants of the Ancient City of Pergamon

27 November 2021

27 November 2021

The hegemony of wealth to the poor, arising from the ruler, elite structure, property ownership, unjust acquisition, and distribution of...