BBC reports excavations in North Dakota reveal fossils of fish and trees that were sprayed with rocky, glassy fragments that fell from the sky. 

The deposits show evidence also of having been swamped with water - the consequence of the colossal sea surge that was generated by the impact. 

The detail is reported in PNAS journal which reveals a glimpse into events that probably occurred perhaps only tens of minutes to a couple of hours after the giant asteroid hit the Earth. 

When this 12km-wide object slammed into what is now the Gulf of Mexico, it would have hurled billions of tonnes of molten and vaporised rock into the sky in all directions - and across thousands of kilometres.

BBC