Scientists unearth asteroid victims

Scientists have been excavating in Tanis, USA, where dinosaurs and fish were bombarded with tiny rocks flung thousands of kilometres by a huge asteroid.

Fossils kept their shapes

Palaeontologist Robert DePalma unearths fossils of tree trunks and other detritus near Tanis. The fossils have kept their original shapes in the mud.

Scientists wrap up fossils

Fossils are fragile, so the scientists wrap them in plaster before moving them. In the lab, plaster and rock is removed, so the fossils can be studied in greater detail.

Impact crushed minerals

The impact sent pieces of quartz 3000km to Tanis – and across the rest of the world. The impact pressure caused wrinkles and cracks in the mineral.

Fish still have their fins

At Tanis, scientists found fossils of extinct relatives of sturgeons and paddlefish. Bones, scales, fins, and gills were all extremely well-preserved.

Fossils in the wilderness

Tanis is located in a deserted part of North Dakota, USA. The rocks were formed in the late Cretaceous and the early Paleogene.

Famous geologist visits Tanis

Geologist Walter Alzarez, who in 1980 contributed to documenting the impact, studies a piece of rock that the asteroid had flung all the way to Tanis.