The Chicxulub crater

 The Cataclysmic Event that Reshaped Life on Earth

      The history of the Earth, according to paleontologists’ calculations, is 66 million years and there has been one large-scale disaster that changed the life of the planet. A giant impactor of about 10 kilometers (6 miles) of diameter hit the Earth at what is now the Chicxulub region in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. The strike of this celestial body instigated enormously disastrous events that eradicated the dinosaurs and many other organism species, laying the foundation for the mammals and the world that encompasses the contemporary society.

The Chicxulub Crater: Wing T. Chao A Lasting Scar on the Earth’s Surface

    The actual residue of this powerful asteroid belongs to the distant past where even today, the Chicxulub crater is bright as a flashing neon light. Standing at 150 kilometers (93 miles) in diameter, and 20 kilometres (12 miles) deep, Chicxulub crater is amongst the largest structures on Earth. Most of the actual crater itself is hidden under the overburden of the Yucatan Peninsula except for about 200 km of the edge of the crater.

Exploring the Mystery behind Chicxulub Crater

    It has been about decades now that researchers have been conducting research on the Chicxulub crater in a bid to ascertain the consequent effects of the asteroid impact. The studies of the geological structure of the region, and seismic explorations together with drilling operations have provided explorers with comprehensive knowledge on the origin and the subsequent occurrences of the event.

Some of the disastrous effects of the occurrence of the asteroid impact include

    The main consequence of the Chicxulub asteroid is that it generated a terrible effect in the atmosphere of the Earth and disrupted a sequence of other negative effects. This would have started with a large blast sending out a shockwave that dispersed a massive amount of energy and a huge amount of rock and rock debris. 

    An effect of this would have been formation of a debris cloud that would remove the sun’s light and reduce global temperatures. This “impact winter” would have inevitably rendered the food chain non-functional, because photosynthetic organisms would not have by default been able to synthesize nutrients. The drastic shifts in the weather also caused the large scale extinct of the dinosaurs and other species and the opening of a new era for mammals as well as the development of the modern ecosystem.

Effects of the Chicxulub Crater Found To Be Felt Even Today

    Chicxulub crater is a strong signal of how trustful is life on the earth and how even one incidence coming from the outer space can change the history of evolution. Today sons of science still study the crater to this particular day and utilizing all the information that ejects from the study of the crater to understanding the history of the earth and forces that shaped this world.

    Apart from the scientific aspect, the Chicxulub crater has turned into the symbol of the life’s tenacity on the Earth. However, there are pleasant things that have happened in our planet, cycling forms that have brought enormous variation for the dinosaurus to extinct the life in our planet but later on bringing the evolution of the various forms of life we have in our planet today. And so it is that the crater Chicxulub in all its majestic size stands as proof of how life, rather optimistically, can and does go on, and of how adaptable the planet we call home is to adversity and disaster.

Conclusion: 

    The Chicxulub Crater A thought provoking study of event that shaped our planet and being an Meteorology major, it painted a vivid picture of the event.

    The evidence such as the Chicxulub crater makes me feel how precious and strong life is on the planet Earth. As evidence, not only to the existence of spectacular processes whose actions have formed the history of the Earth but as a symbol of the amazing opportunities that exist to protect life at worst even if the circumstances in which it is found to be too terrible.

    In our further investigation and researching of the Chicxulcb crater we are once again impressed with the changes that can occur in the course of the development of life on our planet because of a single event. Knowledge of the past may help the human population resolve problems it faces in the present and guarantee the future evolution of life on our planet.

References

1. "PIA03379: Shaded Relief with Height as Color, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico" (http://photojournal.j pl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03379). Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. NASA. Retrieved October 28, 2010. 

2. Durand-Manterola, H. J.; Cordero-Tercero, G. (2014). "Assessments of the energy, mass and size of the Chicxulub Impactor". arXiv:1403.6391 (https://arxiv.org/abs/1403.6391) [astro-ph.EP (http s://arxiv.org/archive/astro-ph.EP)]. 

3. Renne, P. R.; Deino, A. L.; Hilgen, F. J.; Kuiper, K. F.; Mark, D. F.; Mitchell, W. S.; Morgan, L. E.; Mundil, R.; Smit, J. (2013). "Time Scales of Critical Events Around the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary" (https://eps.harvard.edu/files/eps/files/renne.kt_.science.2013.pdf) (PDF). Science. 339 (6120): 684–687. Bibcode:2013Sci...339..684R (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013Sci... 339..684R). doi:10.1126/science.1230492 (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.1230492). ISSN 0036-8075 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0036-8075). PMID 23393261 (https://pubmed.ncb i.nlm.nih.gov/23393261). 

4. "Chicxulub" (http://www.passc.net/EarthImpactDatabase/New%20website_05-2018/Chicxulub.ht ml). Earth Impact Database. Planetary and Space Science Centre University of New Brunswick Fredericton. Retrieved December 30, 2008. 

5. Penfield, Glen (2019). "Unlikely Impact" (https://explorer.aapg.org/story?articleid=55293). AAPG Explorer. 40 (12): 20–23. Retrieved December 12, 2019. 

6. St. Fleur, Nicholas (November 17, 2016). "Drilling Into the Chicxulub Crater, Ground Zero of the Dinosaur Extinction" (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/18/science/chicxulub-crater-dinosaur-exti nction.html). The New York Times. Retrieved November 4, 2017.