Stevns Klint World Heritage Site

Official name

Stevns Klint | UNESCO

Country

Denmark | Map

Continent

Europe

Location

55.2672° Lat, 12.4233° Lon | Map

Code

1416

Time Zone

Europe/Copenhagen (CET, +0100)

Current Time

Category

Natural

Description

Inscribed 2014. This geological site comprises a 15 km-long fossil-rich coastal cliff, offering exceptional evidence of the impact of the Chicxulub meteorite that crashed into the planet at the end of the Cretaceous, about 65 million years ago. Researchers think that this caused the most remarkable mass extinction ever, responsible for the disappearance of over 50 per cent of all life on Earth. The site harbours a record of the cloud of ash formed by the impact of the meteorite – the exact site being at the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. An exceptional fossil record is visible at the site, showing the complete succession of fauna and micro-fauna charting the recovery after the mass extinction.