Today scientists published their first results from a drilling expedition into chicxulub crater the buried remnants of an asteroid impact off the yucatán peninsula in mexico that killed. That s the premise of a new study examining what happened 66 million years ago after a 7 5 mile wide asteroid crashed into the ocean near what s now the port town of chicxulub mexico. The drill rig that was stationed 30km off mexico s yucatan peninsula in april may last year to better understand the aims of the project.
Dinosaur crater s clue to origin of life. The main culprit behind the end of the dinosaurs is now widely accepted to be an extraterrestrial collision of epic proportions one that left behind the gargantuan crater of chicxulub at mexico. The impact created a mile deep crater blasting away sediment earth s crust and water.
The asteroid hit the modern day yucatán peninsula in shallow seas and immediately transformed the landscape. Imagine standing on the edge of a giant crater knowing nothing about how this massive hole in the ground came to be or figuring out that a cataclysmic event like an asteroid hitting the earth killed the dinosaurs but having no visible evidence on the planet of a collision of that magnitude. And why the scars left by meteoritic impacts tell us about life the universe and everything.
The asteroid strike triggered the cretaceous paleogene or k pg mass extinction. The immense chicxulub crater is a remnant of one of the most consequential days in the history of life on earth. This cataclysmic event that triggered a world wide tsunami and disrupted global climates has been linked to the extinction of the dinosaurs and up to 75 of all other life.
65 million years ago a massive asteroid crashed into mexico s yucatan peninsula a site now known as the chicxulub crater. While it s been generally. Dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago because of a massive asteroid that hit the earth in the yucatán peninsula in mexico now known as the chicxulub crater.
It was formed when a large asteroid or comet about 11 to 81 kilometers 6 8 to 50 3 miles in diameter known as the chicxulub impactor struck the earth. Its center is located offshore near the town of chicxulub after which the crater is named. Tʃʼikʃuluɓ is an impact crater buried underneath the yucatán peninsula in mexico.
The chicxulub crater ˈ tʃ iː k ʃ ʊ l uː b.
