A study suggests that the Chicxulub asteroid impact may have created a hydrothermal system that lasted for over 5 million years, potentially supporting life.
The Chicxulub asteroid impact created a hydrothermal system that lasted for at least 8 million years.
The system was hot and nutrient-rich, potentially supporting life.
The system was located at the bottom of the ocean, where it was isolated and could have attracted microorganisms.
The study suggests that larger impact craters could have created even longer-lived hydrothermal systems.
Summarised automatically by AI from the original article by Ars Technica. AI can make mistakes, so check the original for details.
About 66 million years ago, the Chicxulub asteroid smashed into Earth, kicking up tsunamis and dropping hot debris that annihilated non-avian dinosaurs and many other species. But not everything it left in its wake was destructive. This space rock hit what is now the partially submerged Yucatan Peninsula, and at the bottom of the ocean, the impact generated enough heat to create a hydrothermal system that persisted for 8 million years and may have been a hotbed of life.
When researchers drilled for samples in the impact zone in 2016, they studied the types of rock that had formed as a result of the asteroid strike. This gave more insight into what happened in the immediate and long-term aftermath of this cataclysmic event.
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