--- title: Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Turned Earth's Surface Into Liquid description: The asteroid that has been linked to the demise of the dinosaurs likely turned Earth’s surface into a liquid when it hurdled into the planet canonical: https://time.com/4581545/asteroid-dinosaurs-liquid-surface/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-23T16:09:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:27:36.863Z article:section: Science og:title: Asteroid That Wiped Out Dinosaurs Turned Earth’s Surface Into Liquid og:description: Within a matter of minutes, a new study has found og:url: https://time.com/4581545/asteroid-dinosaurs-liquid-surface/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35d0678b80027c1e/6988af9c196cf4128e03e173/meteor-earth-liquid.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Impact Earth og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Asteroid That Wiped Out Dinosaurs Turned Earth’s Surface Into Liquid twitter:description: Within a matter of minutes, a new study has found twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35d0678b80027c1e/6988af9c196cf4128e03e173/meteor-earth-liquid.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Asteroid That Wiped Out Dinosaurs Turned Earth’s Surface Into Liquid: Study > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Nov 23, 2016 4:09 PM UTC  A Meteor glowing as it enters the Earth's atmosphere A Meteor glowing as it enters the Earth's atmosphere Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Nov 23, 2016 4:09 PM UTC The asteroid that has been linked to the demise of the dinosaurs [likely turned Earth’s surface into a liquid](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/11/22/503013290/scientists-say-dinosaur-killing-asteroid-made-earths-surface-act-like-liquid) when it hurtled into the planet some 66 million years ago, [a new study has found.](http://science.sciencemag.org/content/354/6314/878) The force of the massive asteroid strike made the planet’s hard surface momentarily slosh back and forth like a fluid, according to the [BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38019604), which cited a recent study published in the journal _Science_. The asteroid tore open a 60-mile-wide gap, shooting rock upward to a height twice that of Mount Everest before collapsing into smaller peaks, [NPR reports](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/11/22/503013290/scientists-say-dinosaur-killing-asteroid-made-earths-surface-act-like-liquid). “And this all happens on the scale of minutes, which is quite amazing,” researcher Joanna Morgan told the BBC. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4581545/asteroid-dinosaurs-liquid-surface/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4581545/asteroid-dinosaurs-liquid-surface/"},"headline":"Asteroid That Wiped Out Dinosaurs Turned Earth’s Surface Into Liquid: Study","datePublished":"2016-11-23T16:09:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:27:36.863Z","description":"Within a matter of minutes","url":"https://time.com/4581545/asteroid-dinosaurs-liquid-surface/","keywords":["Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35d0678b80027c1e/6988af9c196cf4128e03e173/meteor-earth-liquid.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35d0678b80027c1e/6988af9c196cf4128e03e173/meteor-earth-liquid.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Impact Earth","caption":"Impact Earth","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4581545/asteroid-dinosaurs-liquid-surface/","name":"Asteroid That Wiped Out Dinosaurs Turned Earth’s Surface Into Liquid: Study"}}]}] ```