- The Chicxulub crater is a 110 mile (180km) impact crater with a depth of 12 miles (20km) formed by the Chicxulub Impactor. The crater is not visible and was found by geophysical survey.
- This was an Asteroid that impacted the edge of the Yucatan Peninsular in the Gulf of Mexico 66 M years ago. It is thought to have caused the Cretacious-Paleogene extinction event, leading to the mass extinction of the non-flying Dinosaurs and 75% of plant and animal species.
The Big Five Mass Extinction Events
- Scientists have identified five large mass extinction events which stand out from a continuous series of smaller mass extinction events that have occurred over the last 540 million years.
- Ordovician-Silurian extinction events (443 million years ago).
- Late Devonian extinctions (372 million years ago).
- Permian-Triassic extinction event (251.9 million years ago).
- Triassic-Jurassic extinction event (201.4 million years ago).
- Cretacious-Paleogene extinction event (66 million years ago).
Possible Causes of Mass Extinction Events
- Volcanic Eruptions.
- Falls in Sea Levels.
- Asteroid Impacts.
Chicxulub crater, Yucatan Peninsular, Mexico