Scientists recreate deadly dinosaur tsunami

An international team of scientists used special software to recreate the giant tsunami that is believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs tens of millions of years ago.

Scientists say that the flood caused by the impact of an asteroid on Earth, which destroyed the dinosaurs and led to their mass extinction, was accompanied by waves that rose more than a kilometer above the planet.

On Monday, January 30, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) posted on Twitter an excerpt from a computer simulation.

Scientists estimate that the devastating natural event, which scientists estimate is 30,000 times more powerful than any recorded tsunami, occurred when a massive asteroid hit what is today Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. The celestial body is believed to have a diameter of over 10 kilometers (6 miles). The asteroid left a deep trail at the impact site known as the Chicxulub crater.

The collision generated waves 4.5 kilometers (2.5 miles) high that stretched across the globe, a new model shows.

The impact coincides with the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, when 75% of all plants and animals on Earth at that time, including all wingless dinosaurs, perished due to the massive destruction and climate change that followed the event.

The computer simulations are the result of a collaborative effort by scientists from several countries, including NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environment Laboratory and the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory.

The scientists combined numerical modeling and analysis of geological data to create what they call “the world’s first tsunami simulation of the Chicxulub asteroid impact.”

A powerful computer program that details complex fluid flows, called the Hydraulic Code, recreated the first 10 minutes of a tsunami, while two other models developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration simulated patterns according to wave propagation around the world.

The team also analyzed geological records from over 100 locations around the world to back up their estimates.

The study could have practical implications, the team said, as it could help “assess and determine future risks of large asteroid impacts.”

Moreover, the model can help predict the effects of small tsunamis that occur regularly at the present time.

Source: RT