In a new study, scientists speculate that Nadir Crater in Africa is the second impact crater hit by the same asteroid that hit the Chicxulub crater, killing the dinosaurs and other species. The full details of the study were published in Science Advances.
Is Nadir Crater a Second Impact Crater After Chicxulub?
The discovery of a second impact crater of comparable age on the other side of the Atlantic raises several questions.
In an interview with BBC News, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin shared some interesting questions, such as, "Was Chicxulub a double asteroid where a smaller object orbited a bigger one?" The researchers also wanted to know if it was the breakup of a parent body that had multiple fragments that hit Earth over time.
These are intriguing questions to investigate because learning that Chicxulub may have a second crater simultaneously changes the story of how Chicxulub came to be. The researcher said that a much smaller asteroid cousin or sister does not necessarily add to the understanding of the dinosaur extinction, but it does add to our understanding of the astronomical event that these are intriguing questions to investigate.
Why Could Nadir Crater in Africa Be Possibly Hit by an Asteroid?
Dubbed the Nadir Crater, the second impact crater is located 400 kilometers off the coast of Guinea, West Africa. With a diameter of 8.5km, the asteroid that created it was most likely less than half a kilometer across. Dr. Uisdean Nicholson of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, UK, discovered the hidden depression.
The shape of Nadir, according to Nicholson, indicates an asteroid impact. It has a raised rim that surrounds a central uplift area and debris layers that extend outwards.
According to Dr. Veronica Bray of the University of Arizona, the simulations indicate that the crater was formed by the collision of a 400m-wide asteroid in 500-800 m of water.
It would have caused a tsunami up to one kilometer high, as well as an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 or so. The energy released would have been 1,000 times greater than that released by Tonga's January 2022 eruption and tsunami.
Crater Meteor Astronomy
Chicxulub Mexico Crater
The asteroid formed the Chicxulub Crater in the Gulf of Mexico was estimated to be 12 kilometers in diameter. It created a 200-kilometer-wide depression, resulting in massive earth tremors, tsunamis, and a global firestorm.
The Earth experienced a deep freeze as a result of the amount of dust that was thrown into the sky. The dinosaurs were unable to adapt to the changing climate.
According to LiveScience, the Chicxulub crater, hidden beneath the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, marks the impact site of an asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago. The fifth mass extinction, which wiped out roughly 80% of all animal species, including non-avian dinosaurs, was the most significant result of this cataclysmic event.
Much of the crater is now buried under 600m of sediments offshore. It is covered in limestone on land, but sinkholes trace its rim. Recently, scientists drilled into the crater to learn more about its formation.
RELATED ARTICLE: Fish Bones Reveal Dinosaur-Killer Chicxulub Hit the Earth During Spring 66 Million Years Ago
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