Ruthenium isotopes show the Chicxulub impactor was a carbonaceous-type asteroid
An impact at Chicxulub, Mexico, occurred 66 million years ago, producing a global stratigraphic layer that marks the boundary between the Cretaceous and Paleogene eras. That layer contains elevated concentrations of platinum-group elements, including ruthenium. We measured ruthenium isotopes in samples taken from three Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary sites, five other impacts that occurred between 36 million to 470 million years ago, and ancient 3.5-billion- to 3.2-billion-year-old impact spherule layers. Our data indicate that the Chicxulub impactor was a carbonaceous-type asteroid, which had formed beyond the orbit of Jupiter. The five other impact structures have isotopic signatures that are more consistent with siliceous-type asteroids, which formed closer to the Sun. The ancient spherule layer samples are consistent with impacts of carbonaceous-type asteroids during Earth's final stages of accretion.
Authors
- Birger Schmitz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9171-5623)
- Alessandro Bragagni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4216-5025)
- François Tissot (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6622-2907)
- Nils Meßling (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0977-4689)
- Bo-Magnus Elfers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0548-772X)
- Philippe Claeys (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4585-7687)
- Martin Bizzarro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9966-2124)
- Mario Fischer‐Gödde (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6839-9001)
- Carsten Münker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6406-559X)
- W. D. Maier
- Steven Goderis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6666-7153)
- Christian Koeberl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5155-7405)
- T. Mohr‐Westheide (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9067-4847)
- W. U. Reimold
- Jonas Tusch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7492-8037)
Institutions
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- University of Vienna (AT)
- Museum für Naturkunde (DE)
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE)
- University of Cologne (DE)
- Lund University (SE)
- Istituto di Scienze Marine del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IT)
- Instituto de Geociencias (ES)
- National Research Council (IT)
- University of Florence (IT)
- University of Göttingen (DE)
- Cardiff University (GB)
- Hamburg University of Technology (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science
- Published
- 2024-08-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk4868
- Citations
- 22
- Primary Topic
- Astro and Planetary Science
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.29