Sixty - six million years ago , anasteroidthought to be around 12 km ( 7.4 miles ) in diameter impact the Earth , forming a crater 200 kilometers ( 120 miles ) in diameter , and 1 kilometre ( 0.62 miles ) rich underneath what is now the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico .
The wallop sent debris flying into the strain , which then rain down upon Earth , causing wildfire and obturate out sun , finally cool down the planet and extend to the mass extinction of thedinosaurs , among other species .
That ’s a pretty large impact for a space rock , but the Chicxulub impingement left other , gigantic mug in the Earth ’s structure as well . The impingement caused an earthquake with an approximate magnitude of over 11 , and sent gigantic Rayleigh waves rippling through the ground , with estimates saying they could have reach out over 100 time ( 328 feet ) in high spirits . This too had a knock - on impression .
Megaripples caused by the Chicxulub impact. The holes seen are salt domes.Images courtesy of Gary Kinsland
" The upshot of the earthquake , particularly the Rayleigh waves , leave in disruption around the Gulf of Mexico ( GoM ) which is neighboring to the impact site , " the source of a new study excuse . " Carbonate shelves collapsed and unconsolidated clastic sediments on the shelves were mixed with water to form mud and suspensions which gravity call up to flux down the shelves and even into the depths of the GoM. "
In 2021 , a team lead byDr Gary Kinslandof the University of Louisiana at Lafayette find evidence that the impact and resulting tsunami left " megaripples " of sediment 16 meters ( 53 foot ) high and 600 meters ( 1,969 fundament ) apart . These megaripples were deposits of sediment distributed in what was then the ocean storey , but now organise part ofLouisiana .
In a new study led by Kinsland , the team further mapped the shelf using seismic data . They found that these megaripples expand much further than expect .
" Megaripples exist everywhere in the data enquire upon / within the , once , fluidized marl muds of a mass transport deposit which was mobilized by Rayleigh waves from the Chicxulub Impact , about an hour before the tsunami reached the northern Gulf of Mexico ( Louisiana ) , " the team excuse in their fresh field of study .
While the squad mapped the area and found grounds of these megaripples in the surface area , how exactly they formed remains an exposed question . When the first written report was published , scientist questionedhow a gamy - vigour event could have such an effect , usually associated with calm environments . In the new study , the team suggest that the impact essentially " fluidized " a level of sediment .
I suspect that the fluidized deposit was moved into the ripple shapes by the tsunami and then retained the shapes much as whipped ointment maintains shapes after the stirring cease .
" distinctive ripples , from wind , H2O current or waves form by erosion , movement and redeposition of individual particle . The material upon / within which the megaripples picture here were forge , the MTD , was , at the time of the tsunami , fluidized marl muds , " the team explains . " We project that the high velocity traction of tsunami stream drove the rudimentary , likely thixotropic mud , into undulation , megaripples , much as the grip of wind drives water into wave . As the velocity of the tsunami abated , the thixotropic clay maintained their megaripple contour . "
" I surmise that the fluidized sediment was moved into the ripple shapes by the tsunami and then retained the shapes much as whipped pick maintains form after the shake up cease , " Kinsland tot to IFLScience , adding " I know of no ripples of the order of magnitude that we have found anywhere in the mankind . "
While an interesting and perhaps of import find , demonstrating the effect of such a jumbo asteroid impingement on the Earth , more work is needed to figure out the exact chemical mechanism that induce these hold out megaripples in our planet ’s aerofoil .
The discipline is publish inMarine Geology .
