Life recovered rapidly at site of dino-killing asteroid. A hydrothermal system may have helped

At the site of the dinosaur-killing crater, scientists find a surprise

When an asteroid hit Earth and wiped out many dinosaurs, it also stoked life in the ocean, which bloomed from nutrients transported by hydrothermal activity.

Life recovered rapidly at site of dino-killing asteroid: A hydrothermal system may have helped

About 66 million years ago, an asteroid slammed into the planet, wiping out all non-avian dinosaurs and about 70% of all marine species. But the crater it left behind in the Gulf of Mexico was a literal hotbed for life enriching the overlying ocean for at least 700,000 years, according to new research.

Life recovered rapidly at site of dino-killing asteroid. A hydrothermal system may have helped

About 66 million years ago, an asteroid slammed into the planet, wiping out all non-avian dinosaurs and about 70% of all marine species.

Analysis of sediments in the Chicxulub crater has discovered a breeding ground for life that enriched the ocean for at least 700,000 years. A hydrothermal system, created after the meteorite fell, may have contributed to this. A meteorite fall 66 million years ago destroyed 70% of life on Earth. The Chicxulub crater, on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, is the most important remnant of the meteorite fall that wiped out 70% of species on Earth, in…

Life recovered quickly in the place where the asteroid that exterminated the dinosaurs fell some 66 million years ago in the Gulf of Mexico,

Good mass murderer: After the devastating impact of the Chicxulub asteroid 66 million years ago, life returned surprisingly quickly to the impact site. Now it is also clear why: Probably enriched hydrothermal activity under the crater the surrounding sea water with nutrients and thus enabled the settlement of plankton communities, as researchers report. In this way, the crater seemed paradoxically a kind of catalyst of life. 66 million years ago…