A group of researchers from all over the world are planning to drill core samples from the famous dinosaur asteroid crater, the chicxulub crater, to help them in the adventure to study the evolution of life on Earth, as well as how the crater was made. The team will drill 5,000 feet down into the crater, which is thought to be at least 65-million years old, dating back to the start of the extinction of the dinosaurs. Most now believe that the asteroid that caused the crater was the cause of the dinosaur extinction.
This adventure to drill into Chicxulub Crater to get the core sample is expected to cost $10 million and is led by two scientists: Joanna Morgan from Imperial College in London, and Sean Gulick from the Austin Institute of Geophysics at The University of Texas. By going down to that deep of a distance, they will travel to an area of the Earth that includes the dinosaur asteroid crater core and see what existed all those millions of years in the past. The resulting samples from the Chicxulub Crater will then be used to help the scientists figure out how life evolved on the Earth after the asteroid, as well as how the giant impact crater was formed.
Dinosaur Asteroid Crater Chicxulub Linked to Mass Extinction
The Chicxulub Crater is the only known impact crater that is linked to the mass dinosaur extinction event and is famous for being thought as the asteroid that killed off the great era of the giant reptiles known as the dinosaurs. It covers a 125-mile impact area.
Studying it should give the researchers the chance to understand how the other life on Earth was able to withstand the asteroid’s impact and the resulting devastation that caused the dinosaur extinction. It is considered to be a great adventure, as these scientists will be searching for information that could be ground-breaking and life-changing since it is expected to help explain how life after the dinosaurs lived, evolved and was able to thrive to the current day.
A Project Long in the Making
Of course, this study of the famous dinosaur asteroid crater and its mysteries is not all new, as scientists have studied it for decades using various geophysical methods. However, this is the first time a team will get to put their hands on actual samples that will be pulled up by the drilling into the Chicxulub Crater. The plan is to store half of the core from the dinosaur asteroid crater in a special repository at the Texas A&M University. It will be kept there for use by future researchers. The rest of the retrieved asteroid core sample will then be studied by the international team of geologists.
Dig to Reveal Insight into Life Formation
By analyzing these core samples of the dinosaur asteroid crater, the team of scientists hopes to learn more about what caused the event to happen, as well as seek out traces of any organisms or fossils found inside the samples. This adventure to dig into the Chicxulub Crater and discover its mysteries is expected to begin in spring 2016.
A video appreciating the beautiful, natural landscapes of our planets–particularly in Austria. In the wake of all the dinos news, imagining the world’s transformation gives us more reason to appreciate its dynamic nature:
https://youtu.be/NdAR74IHVT8
