Sputnik International
By Allison Dubois
October 20, 2022
Sixty-six million years ago, the Chicxulub asteroid struck Earth in the Gulf of Mexico, just north of what’s now known as the Yucatan Peninsula. The city-sized space rock triggered a massive global tsunami that wiped out the dinosaurs. For the first time, scientists were able to simulate that Earth-shattering storm.
Researchers at Purdue University used a three-dimensional computer program called a hydrocode to simulate the first minutes of the asteroid’s impact 66 million years ago, including the giant crater Chicxulub left behind and the start of the ensuing tsunami.