Ruthenium isotopes show the Chicxulub impactor was a carbonaceous-type asteroid

Fischer-Gödde, Mario, Tusch, Jonas, Goderis, Steven, Bragagni, Alessandro, Mohr-Westheide, Tanja, Messling, Nils, Elfers, Bo-Magnus, Schmitz, Birger, Reimold, Wolf U., Maier, Wolfgang D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8654-6658, Claeys, Philippe, Koeberl, Christian, Tissot, François L. H., Bizzarro, Martin and Münker, Carsten 2024. Ruthenium isotopes show the Chicxulub impactor was a carbonaceous-type asteroid. Science 385 (6710) , pp. 752-756. 10.1126/science.adk4868

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Abstract

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.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Earth and Environmental Sciences
Publisher:	American Association for the Advancement of Science
ISSN:	0036-8075
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	23 August 2024
Date of Acceptance:	15 July 2024
Last Modified:	29 Aug 2024 07:23
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/171561

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