{"id":36797,"date":"2026-09-14T06:10:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T10:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/?p=36797"},"modified":"2026-09-13T22:28:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T02:28:25","slug":"a-rare-metal-has-traced-the-dinosaur-killing-asteroid-beyond-jupiter-and-the-discovery-narrows-a-66-million-year-old-mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/a-rare-metal-has-traced-the-dinosaur-killing-asteroid-beyond-jupiter-and-the-discovery-narrows-a-66-million-year-old-mystery\/36797\/","title":{"rendered":"A rare metal has traced the dinosaur-killing asteroid beyond Jupiter, and the discovery narrows a 66-million-year-old mystery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For years, scientists were convinced that they knew what killed the dinosaurs<\/a>. The explanation was: About 66 million years ago, an enormous asteroid hit Mexico and killed three-quarters of all species, including all dinosaurs except birds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was still not clear was where the asteroid had come from. A study carried out in 2024<\/a> offered a possible explanation. Its chemical composition indicated it could have been a carbon-rich asteroid formed beyond the planet Jupiter. This gave researchers very strong evidence about its origin, and got closer to answering a question that had remained unanswered although the impact theory was widely accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A rare metal revealing its cosmic address<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The most important clue was ruthenium, a rare metal that was found in the debris that was spread around after the rock impacted the Earth. There is not a lot of ruthenium in Earth\u2019s crust, so most of what researchers found in that layer likely came from the asteroid. This is why this metal was so useful for tracing the origin of the object.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Half of a high-purity ruthenium bar, remelted with an electron beam, in a photograph by Alchemist-hp; the rare metal’s isotopes in the impact debris pointed to an asteroid born beyond Jupiter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mario Fischer-G\u00f6dde of the University of Cologne and his team studied the ruthenium isotopes collected from samples found in Denmark, Italy, and Spain. They all had the same chemical signature, the same one that was found in carbonaceous meteorites<\/a> from asteroids that originated beyond Jupiter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read More: Long before tractors, a Shire horse named Sampson stood 7 feet 2.5 inches at the shoulder, and the tallest horse ever recorded still towers over today’s biggest living horse by a surprising margin<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The team also studied Chicxulub: a material from five other impact sites. These samples were more closely related to siliceous asteroids, which are formed closer to the Sun. But Chicxulub was different, so it seems like the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs has actually traveled here from far away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What struck Earth 66 million years ago<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Scientists believe that the Chicxulub asteroid was about 6 to 9 miles (10 to 15 kilometers) wide. It hit Earth at approximately 12 miles per second (20 kilometers per second) and produced the Chicxulub crater<\/a>, located in the Yucat\u00e1n Peninsula, which stretches about 112 miles (180 kilometers) across the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The area surrounding the impact was destroyed almost instantly. The rock turned to vapor, debris flew high into the sky, and the extreme heat caused fires to start across the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The damage quickly spread across the world. Dust, smoke, and sulfur blocked sunlight, cooled the planet, and damaged the photosynthesis, leaving plants struggling to survive. Food chains were destroyed, and about three-quarters of all species on Earth died. Birds were the only dinosaurs to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How scientists linked the asteroid to the extinction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When physicist Luis Alvarez and geologist Walter Alvarez presented this theory in 1980<\/a>, many scientists disagreed, they were not convinced. Their main clue was a layer of clay from the end of the Cretaceous which contained unusually high levels of iridium. This element is commonly found in asteroids, but very rare in Earth\u2019s crust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read More: A carbonaceous asteroid 10-15 kilometers wide struck Mexico’s Yucat\u00e1n 66 million years ago at 64,000 km\/h, and isotope analysis now pinpoints its origin beyond Jupiter as a rare CO-type meteorite<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Many people doubted the idea at first, but as new evidence was found, they gradually changed their minds. Researchers found shocked quartz and tiny glass droplets<\/a>, which are both created under strong pressure. Then, around 1990, they found the Chicxulub crater, so these clues found around the world were now pointing in the same direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story is important because the new ruthenium study has a very similar scientific path. It does not have a clear picture of the asteroid or a large piece to examine. Instead, it has tiny samples that indicate one same origin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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