Artwork of tyrannosaurs fleeing a hail of impact ejecta. Some 65 million years ago,the impact of an asteroid or comet with the Earth provoked one of prehistory's greatest mass-extinctions,when it wiped out the dinosaurs and many other species. The impact occurred in a shallow sea,off the coast of what is now Mexico,caving out a magma-filled wound some 180 kilometres across. Ejecta was thrown high into the atmosphere. The dust remained there for years,blocking out the Sun's life-giving rays. The heavier ejecta fell to earth in a torrent of molten rocks,hundreds of kilometres from ground zero. Here,tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs living in North America are seen fleeing the onslaught,which has already set fire to the forest behind them |