After the extinction of the dinosaurs, an asteroid hit Greenland
The impact occurred approximately 58 million years ago and caused the destruction of the forest that covered the island in that distant past.
The dinosaurs were extinguished by an asteroid that crashed into today's American continent about 66 million years ago. A little later, in geological terms, another celestial body hit our planet 58 million years ago.
This discovery was made by a team of scientists from the GLOBE Institute of the University of Copenhagen who analyzed a huge impact crater of over 31 kilometers in Greenland. Two teams of scientists analyzed the formations: a group from the Natural History Museum of Denmark with experts from the GLOBE Institute of the University of Copenhagen, and researchers from the Swedish Museum of Natural History.
Both research groups determined that the object hit our planet 58 million years ago.
“Dating the crater has been quite an undertaking so it is a real achievement for us that two different laboratories, using different dating methods, have come to the same conclusion,” Michael Storey, a scientist of the Natural History Museum of Denmark explained in a statement.. At the time of the impact, Greenland was not covered by ice, but home to a forest. The fall of the object produced the energy of several atomic bombs that completely destroyed Greenland. It is not clear, however, what the repercussions were on the global climate. The scientists' next goal is to better analyze the Hiawatha crater in order to understand its effect.
Source: https://www.space.com/greenland-impact-crater-hiawatha-age
