(a)Meteor

About 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, the planet lost its dinosaurs. Everyone know that this happens because of global catastrophe but what happened after the mass extinction. Let's go back in time for a while to see our planet when humans haven't set their feet on a planet that was almost destroyed by a meteor strike. 

What happened after the strike of that meteorite that killed Dinosaurs🦖?

Here you will get to know, the immediate destruction was done by nature and then those species who managed to survive in that era, the climate change that the organisms had to face, and how the earth was recovering from that monstrous disaster.

In the Mesozoic era, when there were dinosaurs on the earth, a  disaster of diameter 11 to 80 kilometers(exact value not confirmed) entered into the pleasant atmosphere of the Earth. Its size was like when one edge of the asteroid had already hit the ground then the other end was still higher than the flight zone of the Boeing 747. That asteroid created a giant crater on the surface of the Earth. It covered half of the Gulf of Mexico. And no wonder that its diameter is 150km and depth is about 20km. This was one of the largest collisions that our planet faced.

(b) Gulf of Mexico

(c) Tsunamis

The impact caused drastic changes in climate and resulted in Tsunamis of more than the height of 100 meters. Some other sources also say that the height reached 300 meters and some claim that the first wave reached a height of 1.5km. The asteroid displaced so much water from the ocean that huge waves crashed on the coastline for 10 hours and this isn't even the worst-case scenario.

When the asteroid crashed on the Earth, the explosion was  100 million times more powerful than the famous nuclear bomb Tsar Bomba. Forests within thousands of kilometers were destroyed in just a second. Some scientists believe that the explosion was equivalent to 10 trillion tonnes of TNT. The energy with which the asteroid crashed to the earth was enough to set fire an inner radius of 1,500 km. Even huge dinosaurs like diplodocus died.

(d) Size comparison of a  diplodocus

Tiny particles of rock were thrown high into the atmosphere. Later geologists found that the particles were spread all over the world. After 40 minutes of being blown into the air, the particles began to fall rapidly. They were like a drop of hot glass, their kinetic energy was equivalent to 20 million megatons of TNT and all of it was converted into heat. Together they quickly warmed up the atmosphere and the earth became a real hell. A drastic majority of dinosaurs and living being were in the affected area, they likely died after a few hours because of heat and tsunamis. The planet covered with forests instantly got fire. 75% of living beings were destroyed including mammals weighing more than 25 kg. Acid rain oxidizes the water of the ocean. Half of the plant species also died within a few hours. Because of dust particles, the sun had covered up which results that sunlight being unable to reach the surface for more than 1 year. 

After all of that, miraculously, herbivores survived somehow, and then carnivores too. The water ecosystem was also destroyed but not completely. For example, turtles and the ancestors of crocodiles managed to survive. 

(e) Foraminifera

The Foraminifera were the first to recover. These are the single-celled organisms that appeared in the crater a few years after the impact. Then the ferns awoke. In just a millennium, they were able to expand and occupy almost all the space that has left. There were just a few flowering and nutritious plants in the world to survive. Due to this only those mammals that had a weight less than 600gm, roamed on the surface.

(f) Ferns

100,000 years later, mammals return to the size of a raccoon. The ferns were replaced by palm forests, which means more food. The world gradually returning to normal.

After 200,000 years later, there were much more nutritious plants on the planet which caused a lot of diversity in organisms. Diversity increased by about 3 times. The largest individuals reached 25kg.

About 700,000 years later, there were beans that worked like protein bars for mammals. This further increase the size of the animals and at the same time the diversity. At that time the weight of the mammals reached about 50kg.

(g) Ocean Recovery

The oceans recover much more slowly. Scientists estimate that it took the ocean about 3 million years. Only then, the flow of organic material return to normal, and new species took over.

Over time evolution led to the appearance of humans. This wouldn't happen without the asteroid hitting the Earth.

So, as a result, whatever happens in the world is for a good cause even if we can't figure it out at that time.

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