Prof. dr. dr. Jan Smit: the Chicxulub meteorite impact, by NGV

For more than a century and a half, people have been looking for the causes behind the disappearance of the dinosaurs. Among the many hypotheses put forward, after the discovery of an abnormal amount of iridium exactly on the KPg boundary, a gigantic meteorite impact emerged as the main theory. Outside of iridium, the sudden extinction and the many meteorite-related finds (including extraterrestrial chromium isotopes, shocked quartz crystals, tektites and tsunamis) and ultimately the discovery of the Chicxulub crater itself form a solid structure under the theory. The alternative hypothesis of extensive volcanism (Deccan traps) in India is far from reaching that status, although there may be an interesting connection between the meteorite impact and the eruptions of the Deccan lavas! One thing was still missing from the "bucket list": fossils of the direct victims of the meteorite impact itself! 

Digital lecture by Prof. dr. dr. Jan Smit, Emeritus Professor of Event Stratigraphy at the VU Amsterdam

Lecture organized by the NGV. See their newsletter for the Zoom link and password. https://geologie.nu/agenda/