Images Dated 19th February 1998

Titanosaurus watching an approaching tsunami

Death of the dinosaurs. Artwork of the dinosaur Titanosaurus watching an approaching giant sea wave (tsunami) caused by the impact of an asteroid or comet core. This impact may have caused the ex- tinction of the dinosaurs & 70% of all species on Earth about 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous geological period. The object, which was 10-20 kilometres (km) across, struck the Earth at Chicxulub on the Yucatan peninsula, Mexico. It created a tsunami which was up to 3 km high which rapidly travelled vast distances - here it is approaching the Central American coast at 800 km per hour. Dust thrown into the atmosphere by the impact caused darkness and global climate changes

© D. VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY