BOULDER, Colo.
, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists said they believe a collision of two asteroids beyond the orbit of Mars 160 million years ago might have caused the extinction of dinosaurs.
Researchers led by William Bottke of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder
, Colo.
, said that collision sent fragments of rock hurtling across the inner solar system
, doubling the rate of asteroid impacts on Earth
, the moon and Mars for many millions of years.
The scientists said one of the giant fragments might have produced the K-T impact that geologists use to mark the boundary between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods, National Geographic News reported. That asteroid
, which hit what is now Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula 65 million years ago
, is commonly believed to have led to the end of the dinosaurs' existence.
Such fragments are also believed responsible for creating the moon's Tycho crater
, which was formed 110 million years ago
, as well as approximately one-third of all near-Earth objects.
The study appears in the the journal Nature.Related Topics Articles: