PARIS, March 09, 2014 (AFP) - The space rock that smashed into Earth 65 million years ago, famously wiping out the dinosaurs, unleashed acid rain that turned the ocean surface into a witches' brew, researchers said Sunday.
Delving into the riddle of Earth's last mass extinction, Japanese scientists said the impact instantly vaporised sulphur-rich rock, creating a vast cloud of sulphur trioxide (SO3) gas.
This mixed with water vapour to create sulphuric acid rain, which would have fallen to the planet's surface within days, acidifying the surface levels of the ocean and killing life therein.
Those species that were able to survive beneath this lethal layer eventually inherited the seas, according to the study which did not delve into the effects on land animals.
"Concentrated sulphuric acid rains and intense ocean acidification by SO3-rich impact vapours resulted in severe damage to the global ecosystem and were probably responsible for the extinction of many species," the study said.
The great smashup is known as the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction.
It occurred when an object, believed to be an asteroid some 10 kilometres (six miles) wide, whacked into the Yucatan peninsula in modern-day Mexico.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
