What is believed to be the cause of the Chicxulub crater on Earth?

Chicxulub Puerto, Mexico, is the centre of the impact crater that scientists believe was made when the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs smashed into the Earth’s surface.

Why is the Chicxulub crater so important?

The discovery of the Chicxulub crater dramatically enhanced the community’s ability to evaluate the environmental effects of an impact at the K-T boundary, because both the geographic location of an impact site and the target rocks involved in an impact can affect the environmental outcome.

Where did the meteor that killed the dinosaurs come from?

Sixty-six million years ago, a mountain-size asteroid slammed into Earth just off the coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, dooming the dinosaurs and leading to their extinction.

Is there a crater from the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs?

The six mile-wide asteroid which struck the Earth 66 million years ago and ended the 180 million year-long reign of the dinosaurs, was the cause of what is known as a Chicxulub events. It landed in what is now the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico and formed the Chicxulub crater.

Is the Chicxulub crater underwater?

It is partly in the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico and partly underwater. The Chicxulub crater is more than 180 km (110 mi) in diameter, making it the third largest confirmed impact crater.

What caused the Chicxulub crater?

Research group suggests Chicxulub crater may have been caused by binary asteroids More information: www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2013/ © 2013 Phys.org

Are Earth’s Chicxulub-size craters related to a primitive asteroid?

“Our hypothesis predicts that other Chicxulub-size craters on Earth are more likely to correspond to an impactor with a primitive (carbonaceous chondrite) composition than expected from the conventional main-belt asteroids,” the researchers wrote in the paper.

What is the Chicxulub impactor?

The Chicxulub impactor, as it’s known, was a plummeting asteroid or comet that left behind a crater off the coast of Mexico that spans 93 miles and goes 12 miles deep.

What caused the extinction of the dinosaurs?

65 million years ago, a massive asteroid crashed into Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula — a site now known as the Chicxulub Crater. 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.