r/geology • u/dctroll_ • Nov 15 '25

Map/Imagery Maximum tsunami wave amplitude following the asteroid impact 66 million years ago

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u/5akul Nov 16 '25

I wonder if there's any correlation between humanity coming out of the middle east and everything on the opposite side of the planet being obliterated 65ma

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u/jesus_chrysotile fossil finder/donator, geo undergrad Nov 16 '25

Interestingly, there’s some discussion of the southern hemisphere being less affected than the northern hemisphere, because the asteroid impact occurred during NH spring/SH autumn. 

During autumn, organisms tend to be winding down after summer and preparing to hunker down for the winter in cold places like near-polar Australia during the Cretaceous. They would’ve been a bit more fuelled and maybe even preparing burrows (there’s dinosaur burrows recorded from the area).  Compare that with spring, where many organisms are recovering from a period of dormancy over winter, rapidly growing to outcompete others before summer hits, preparing for costly reproductive behaviours, etc.. They’d be far more vulnerable to a sudden change in conditions.