Mexican scientists reveal first findings of drill study at site of dinosaur-killing asteroid

Record ID: 77839

  • Title: Mexican scientists reveal first findings of drill study at site of dinosaur-killing asteroid
  • Date: 24th November 2016
  • Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (NOVEMBER 23, 2016) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** GENERAL VIEW OF NEWS CONFERENCE INVESTIGATOR PRESENTING FIRST FINDINGS OF STUDY VARIOUS OF PRESENTATION AT NEWS CONFERENCE OFFICIALS AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) INVESTIGATOR AT UNAM'S GEOPHYSICS INSTITUTE, JAIME URRUTIA, SAYING: "The crater is very well preserved. If it had been exposed, then with these processes for the study which I have said it would have deteriorated. Thankfully it is covered and you can't see it so we have it in good condition. And as it is covered around by a kilometre of rock it requires additional works for the study, among them in the drilling to be able to have samples for the laboratory." MORE OF OFFICIALS AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) INVESTIGATOR AT UNAM'S GEOPHYSICS INSTITUTE, JAIME URRUTIA, SAYING: "Rocks which were more than 20 km (12.4 miles) deep, from the impact, they were raised and this has remained a mountain chain. Also, for the rocks to have raised 20 km (12.4 miles) closer to the surface then they should have in a very malleable way allowing for the rocks to be fluid like jelly." GENERAL VIEW OF NEWS CONFERENCE MORE OF EXPERT PRESENTING GRAPHICS FROM STUDY DURING NEWS CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF IMAGES FROM STUDY SHOWN AT NEWS CONFERENCE GENERAL VIEW OF NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 9th December 2016 00:51
  • Keywords: Chicxulub crater Mexico Yucatan study findings drill Gulf of Mexico
  • Location: MEXICO CITY, PROGRESO, YUCATAN, MEXICO
  • City: MEXICO CITY, PROGRESO, YUCATAN, MEXICO
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Science
  • Reuters ID: LVA00159O20QR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The Earth's surface moved like liquid when an asteroid that struck Mexico's Gulf 66 million years wiped dinosaurs off the face of the earth, said Mexican experts studying the crater left behind by the massive impact.
    A team of investigators from Mexico City's UNAM university have been drilling at the site of the Chicxulub crater off the Yucatan coast of Mexico. Work is still in progress but samples taken from inside the crater could provide a timeline for the events that followed the cataclysmic asteroid.
    The crater's underwater location in the Gulf of Mexico has meant that after 66 million years it is still well-preserved and ripe for study.
    "The crater is very well preserved. If it had been exposed then with these processes for the study which I have said it would have deteriorated. Thankfully it is covered and you can't see it so we have it in good condition. And as it is covered around by a kilometre of rock it requires additional works for the study, among them in the drilling to be able to have samples for the laboratory," said Jaime Urrutia, an investigator at UNAM's Geophysics Institute.
    According to experts, such was the strength of the asteroid that it smashed deep into the earth's crust, lifting surrounding rocks some 20 km (12.4 miles) into the air.
    Urrutia told media that the impact created a mountain range as earth and rock moved like liquid around the asteroid.
    "Rocks which were more than 20 km (12.4 miles) deep, from the impact, they were raised and this has remained a mountain chain. Also, for the rocks to have raised 20 km (12.4 miles) closer to the surface then they should have in a very malleable way allowing for the rocks to be fluid like jelly," he added.
    The samples being collected at Chicxulub are expected to reveal new insights into the scale of the asteroid's impact and the environmental affects that followed, including the extinction of the dinosaurs.
    According to experts, the crater measures some 200 km (124 miles) across with a depth of 25 km (15.5 miles) and is partly buried offshore and onshore under Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
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