Dinosaur-killing asteroid had 13% chance of doing so: Study
A Japan-based study has revealed that only 13% of Earth's surface harboured enough toxic hydrocarbons to cause a mass extinction following an asteroid impact. A 9-km-wide asteroid struck at Mexico's Yucatan peninsula 66 million years ago sending millions of tons of soot into the atmosphere, which cooled the planet enough to trigger a mass extinction of 75% species including dinosaurs.