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Mexican site for K/T impact crater?Research throughout the Caribbean suggests that the geophysical anomalies in the Yucatan first noted by Penfield and Camargo (1981) and called the Chicxulub crater could be the site of the impact purported to have caused the K/T extinctions. A semicircular ring of sink holes, known locally as cenotes, which correlates with the geophysical anomalies has been identified, and it is argued that the origin of the cenote ring is related to postimpact subsidence of the Chicxulub crater rim. If there is indeed a crater, the region within the cenote ring corresponds to its floor and the crater rim diameter is probably larger than 200 km. If confirmed as a site of impact, the Chicxulub crater would be the largest terrestrial impact crater known, which is consistent with the uniqueness of the K/T global catastrophe.
Document ID
19910053867
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Pope, Kevin O.
(Geo Eco Arc Research La Canada, CA, United States)
Ocampo, Adriana C.
(JPL Pasadena, CA, United States)
Duller, Charles E.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
May 9, 1991
Publication Information
Publication: Nature
Volume: 351
ISSN: 0028-0836
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Accession Number
91A38490
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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