Chicxulub Crater
Written by Jerry Coffey
The Chicxulub Crater is approximately 180 km in diameter and 10 km deep. The crater was formed about 65 million years ago when a very large celestial body impacted what is now known as the Yucatan Peninsula.
The Chicxulub Crater was formed by an impactor (either an asteroid or a comet) that was roughly 10 km in diameter and it hit with 100 million megatons of force. That is enough to make the bombs dropped during WWII look like bottle rockets. More than 50% of the worlds different species were killed off because of the climate changes caused by the dust that was thrown into the air. Nearly all of the dinosaurs eventually died from all of the changes that this impact event had on the Earth's environment. Acid rain and fires would have finished those that did not die from the initial impact.
The Chicxulub crater was originally discovered by Glen Penfield in the 1970's. He was searching for oil in the vicinity. Initially, Mr. Penfield could not find enough evidence to support his theory that this was an impact crater. It wasn't until he made contact with Alan Hildebrand that he was able to confirm Chicxulub as an impact crater. The evidence that he finally submitted for approval included: shocked quartz, tektites, and a magnetic anomaly in the area. Isotope analysis and the age of the rims rocks show that the crater is around 65 million years old. Another interesting fact about the Chicxulub crater is that it has a ring of sinkholes(cenotes) around its rim.
The importance of the Chicxulub crater can not be ignored. The changes brought about in evolution alone stagger the mind. The number of species that never redeveloped and the number of potentially intelligent creatures that were lost may never be known. That one event could be the reason that humans evolved to be the only self aware species on this planet.
Here is another interesting article about the Chicxulub Crater as well as some related information here on Universe Today. Astronomy Cast also has a good episode related to the topic.
Filed under: Astronomy
