Seismic Images Show Dinosaur-Killing Meteor Made Bigger Splash

by Staff Writers

Austin TX (SPX) Jan 24, 2008

The most detailed three-dimensional seismic images yet of the Chicxulub crater, a mostly submerged and buried impact crater on the Mexico coast, may modify a theory explaining the extinction of 70 percent of life on Earth 65 million years ago. The Chicxulub crater was formed when an asteroid struck on the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Most scientists agree the impact played a major role in the “KT Extinction Event” that caused the extinction of most life on Earth, including the dinosaurs.

According to Sean Gulick, a research scientist at the Institute for Geophysics at The University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences and principal investigator for the project, the new images reveal the asteroid landed in deeper water than previously assumed and therefore released about 6.5 times more water vapor into the atmosphere.

Full article here:

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Seismic_Images_Show_Dinosaur_Killing_Meteor_Made_Bigger_Splash_999.html