Science & Technology

Scientists to drill in to 'dinosaur crater'

By T.K. Randall
April 7, 2016 ·  6 comments

The crater brought about the extinction of the dinosaurs. Image Credit: NASA / Donald E. Davis 66 million years ago a huge chunk of rock slammed in to the surface of the Earth - an event so utterly cataclysmic that it would serve to bring about an end to the age of the dinosaurs.

These days most of the 100km-wide impact site, which is known as the Chicxulub Crater, is situated off the coast of Mexico and lies beneath 600m of mud and sediment at the bottom of the sea.

Now in a renewed effort to learn more about the impact, an international team of scientists has taken a special drilling platform out in to the Gulf of Mexico to try and reach the crater directly.Of particular interest to the team will be the 'peak ring' - a region at the center of the crater which was formed when it rebounded and collapsed.

"We want to know where the rocks that make up this peak ring come from," said Professor Joanna Morgan from Imperial College London. "Are they from the lower, mid or upper crust ?"

"Knowing that will help us understand how large craters are formed, and that's important for us to be able to say what was the total impact energy, and what was the total volume of rock that was excavated and put into the Earth's stratosphere to cause the environmental damage."

The drilling project, which is now underway, is expected to take around two months to complete.

Source: BBC News | Comments (6)

Tags: Dinosaur, Crater, Chicxulub