The longtime global climatic consequences modeling of the Chicxulub asteroid impact event

Abstract

Abstract Studies indicate the mass death of a significant number of biological groups on Earth, in particular - dinosaurs, at the end of the Cretaceous period 66 million years ago. Currently, there are two main theories: large-scale volcanic eruptions and the asteroid impact that formed the Chicxulub crater (Mexico). The production of sulfur-containing gases from the Earth’s surface layers vapors during impact is considered a main source of climatic effects, as they form stratospheric sulfate aerosols that block sunlight and thus cool the Earth’s atmosphere and interfere with photosynthesis. It is presented an application of the 3-D coupled global hydrodynamic climate model of intermediate complexity, including ocean model, sea ice evolution model and energy - moisture balance atmosphere model to study this asteroid impact effects on the Earth’s climate. The model continents and ocean depths distribution corresponds to Cretaceous period. A series of calculations with different residence times and deposition times of the stratosphere aerosol have been carried out. It was found that, depending on the stratosphere aerosol time parameters, the global annual average surface air temperature decreased by 18°C - 27°C, remained below zero for 4 - 30 years, and a recovery time of more than 30 years was observed.