Contact between the extinction of dinosaurs and acid rain

According to a new study by Japanese scientists, the massive meteorite incident that hit Earth 65 million years ago, once thought to be the cause of the extinction of dinosaurs, caused acid rain and led to phenomena. oceans on acidified Earth.

After delving into the mysteries of this large-scale extinction, the scientists said the impact when the meteorite crashed into the Earth immediately vaporized sulfur-containing meteorites. , creating a giant cloud of sulfur trioxide (SO ₃ ) gas.

SO ₃ clouds combine with water vapor to form acid rain that falls on the Earth's surface for many days, acidifying ocean surface layers and destroying the Earth's ecosystem.

Artwork: wired.com

This may be the cause of the extinction of many species at that time.

The disappearance of the dinosaur, known as the third Cretaceous extinction, occurs at the end of the Cretaceous period.

This happens when an object is viewed as a 10km asteroid, crashing into Earth in what is now Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. It created a hole about 180km wide, triggering a large fire and causing a "dust storm".

It is estimated that about 60-80% of the species of Earth that have become extinct after the collision, especially the large species like dinosaurs, appeared from 165 million years ago.

According to Japanese scientists, acid rain and ocean acidification after the impact explain many of the planktonic species and the species of extinct parasites.

The hole is a single-celled organism that is protected by calcium carbonate, and this shell is destroyed in acidic water.

The acid rain hypothesis also sheds light on many other mysteries, such as explaining the growing cause of ferns after the collision, which is because the plant "likes" the acid, in addition to the Other necessary events for growth and development.