Scientists are going to explore the ancient crater - the place of the asteroid's fall to Earth 66 million years ago
We are talking about drilling a well in the Chiksulub crater formed when an asteroid fell at the end of the Mesozoic era.
The estimated appearance of Chicxulub 66 million years ago, shortly after the fall of the asteroid
This month, a group of scientists is about to begin drilling a hole in the Chicxulub crater , which was formed during the fall of the asteroid at the end of the Mesozoic era. This asteroid, according to scientists, is one of the reasons for the extinction of dinosaurs. The crater in question is located in the Gulf of Mexico.
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Drilling will be performed from a special vessel with special equipment. This vessel is planned to be placed at a distance of about 30 kilometers from the coast, and turn it into a fixed drilling platform. By the beginning of the next month, drilling will begin, the goal of which is a well in limestone deposits on the seabed. The depth at the drilling site is 17 meters.
In the process of drilling cores will be extracted , rock samples with a length of three meters. After that, they will also begin to study the deeper layers, with the study of samples extracted as they are drilled. Experts expect that even at a depth of about 800 meters (the total depth of the well will be about 1.5 km) there will be much fewer types of fossil molluscs, because after the fall of the asteroid, their populations suffered very strongly. There is an assumption that an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere after the fall of the asteroid led to an increase in the acidity of the water of the oceans. And this is another factor that led to a decrease in the species and population diversity of the marine fauna.
Geologists will study the structural features of the multi-ring crater, the rings of which were not subject to erosion (the erosion process greatly disturbed the structure of the rings of the craters of Vredefort (South Africa) and Sudbury (Canada). The diameter of the crater itself is about 180 kilometers. "Chiksulub is the only structure with several intact rings. that we can study, ”says geophysicist Sean Gulik, a representative of the drillers team.
The formation of multi-ring meteoric impact crater
On the moon, mars or mercury such structures are common. But, as mentioned above, there are few such craters on Earth, and only Chiksulub is sufficiently preserved for studying the degree.
In addition to the geological structure of the crater, scientists will study microorganisms that may exist in the pores of the rock at the bottom. DNA of microorganisms will be sequenced. The goal is to study the life activity of the descendants of those simple organisms that appeared in this place shortly after the disaster. Scientists believe that they can receive energy not from carbon and oxygen, but from iron or sulfur, the concentration of which is rather high in porous rock. And this, in turn, may mean that the crater, the receptacle of the "death of dinosaurs" at one time could also be a haven for many living organisms.
The estimated appearance of Chicxulub 66 million years ago, shortly after the fall of the asteroid
This month, a group of scientists is about to begin drilling a hole in the Chicxulub crater , which was formed during the fall of the asteroid at the end of the Mesozoic era. This asteroid, according to scientists, is one of the reasons for the extinction of dinosaurs. The crater in question is located in the Gulf of Mexico.
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Drilling will be performed from a special vessel with special equipment. This vessel is planned to be placed at a distance of about 30 kilometers from the coast, and turn it into a fixed drilling platform. By the beginning of the next month, drilling will begin, the goal of which is a well in limestone deposits on the seabed. The depth at the drilling site is 17 meters.
In the process of drilling cores will be extracted , rock samples with a length of three meters. After that, they will also begin to study the deeper layers, with the study of samples extracted as they are drilled. Experts expect that even at a depth of about 800 meters (the total depth of the well will be about 1.5 km) there will be much fewer types of fossil molluscs, because after the fall of the asteroid, their populations suffered very strongly. There is an assumption that an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere after the fall of the asteroid led to an increase in the acidity of the water of the oceans. And this is another factor that led to a decrease in the species and population diversity of the marine fauna.
Geologists will study the structural features of the multi-ring crater, the rings of which were not subject to erosion (the erosion process greatly disturbed the structure of the rings of the craters of Vredefort (South Africa) and Sudbury (Canada). The diameter of the crater itself is about 180 kilometers. "Chiksulub is the only structure with several intact rings. that we can study, ”says geophysicist Sean Gulik, a representative of the drillers team.
The formation of multi-ring meteoric impact crater
On the moon, mars or mercury such structures are common. But, as mentioned above, there are few such craters on Earth, and only Chiksulub is sufficiently preserved for studying the degree.
In addition to the geological structure of the crater, scientists will study microorganisms that may exist in the pores of the rock at the bottom. DNA of microorganisms will be sequenced. The goal is to study the life activity of the descendants of those simple organisms that appeared in this place shortly after the disaster. Scientists believe that they can receive energy not from carbon and oxygen, but from iron or sulfur, the concentration of which is rather high in porous rock. And this, in turn, may mean that the crater, the receptacle of the "death of dinosaurs" at one time could also be a haven for many living organisms.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/368201/
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