This book tells the story of the catastrophic impact of the giant 10 Km asteroid Chicxulub into
the ancient Gulf of Mexico 65.5 million years ago. The book begins with a discussion of the
nature of asteroids and the likelihood of future Earth-impacts. The story then turns to the
discovery of a global sediment layer attributed to the fallout from the impact and a piecing
together of the evidence that revealed a monster crater buried under the Gulf. Reviewed is the
myriad of geological and fossil evidence that suggested the disastrous sequence of events
occurring when a nuclear-like explosion ripped through the sea Earth and atmosphere thus
forming the mega-crater and tsunami. The aftermath of the Chicxulub's event initiated decades
and more of major global climate changes including a Nuclear Winter of freezing darkness and
blistering greenhouse warming. A chapter is dedicated to the science of tsunamis and their
model generation including a portrayal of the globally rampaging Chicxulub waves. The
asteroid's global devastation killed off some 70% of animal and plant life including the
dinosaurs. The study of an ancient Cambrian fossil bed suggests how roll of the dice events can
affect the future evolution of life on Earth. We see how Chicxulub's apparent destruction of
the dinosaurs followed by the their replacement with small mammals altered forever the
progress of human evolution. This book presents a fascinating glimpse through the lens of the
natural sciences - the geology climatology and oceanography of the effects of an enormous
astronomical event.
