Chicxulub Impact Event (66 Ma): Cause, Evidence, and Consequences of the K–Pg Mass Extinction

Artist reconstruction of a Late Cretaceous coastal ecosystem moments before the Chicxulub asteroid impact 66 million years ago.

Introduction Imagine the last morning of the Cretaceous Period. Along the warm, shallow shores of what is now the Gulf of Mexico, a hadrosaur wades through reeds, pulling at vegetation. Pterosaurs wheel overhead. The sky is blue, the world is green, and the air is thick with the hum of insects. Nothing in the sensory … Read more