Underwater crater formed 66 million years ago has now been found
Scientists discovered an undersea crater, running 248 miles off the coast of West Africa. The huge undersea structure is believed to have been formed by an asteroid that slammed into the earth during the age of dinosaurs. When the massive hole was formed beneath the earth, it might have changed the earth in many ways, including a shift in the climate.
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Named the Nadir crater, its existence was discovered by mistake while scientists were working on a different mission. However, its discovery now changes a lot of information already known about the history of the earth.
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The crater was first discovered by Uisdean Nicholson, an assistant professor at the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. While reviewing seismic survey data, he realized that there was a depression lying below 400 meters of seabed sediments.
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“While interpreting the data, I (came) across this very unusual crater-like feature, unlike anything I had ever seen before,” he said. “It had all the characteristics of an impact crater.”
While most scientists have confirmed that depression looks like a creator formed by an asteroid impact, further studies are necessary. Experts must drill to the bottom of the crater and collect minerals at the bottom for tests. This would be the only way to ascertain that it dates back to the said time, about a 66 million years ago.
“The opportunity to study an underwater impact crater of this size would help us understand the process of ocean impacts, which are the most common but least well preserved or understood,” said Mark Boslough, a researcher at the University of New Mexico.
Via CNN