Discover the secret of the “mysterious hole” in the Atlantic Ocean
Scientists have revealed that the mysterious crater that was found in Atlantic Oceanoff the coast of West Africa, may have been formed by an asteroid similar to that asteroid that hit Earth and killed dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
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The new crater, dubbed Nadir Crater, was discovered 248 miles (400 km) off the coast of Guinea in West Africa, located about 1,000 feet (300 m) below the sea floor, and 5.2 miles (8.5 km) in diameter.
The impact site is not the size of the Chicxulub crater in Mexico, which was left behind by another asteroid that also wiped out the dinosaurs, but it is of a very similar age and time.
It has raised questions about whether Earth was exposed to more than one space rock during that catastrophic period in natural history, and if confirmed, it would also be of great scientific interest, because it would be one of the few known marine asteroid impacts, so it may provide new insights. What happens during such a collision.
Dr Nicholson, of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, who has been analyzing seismic survey data to better understand past climate changes on Earth, told BBC News: “These surveys are a bit like Earth’s ultrasound… The past twenty in her interpretation, but I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“You’ve got the impact crater site, a raised ledge surrounding a central elevation zone, and then layers of debris extending outward,” he added.
“The crater is just over 5 miles (8 kilometres) wide,” he explained, and Dr. Nicholson believes it was most likely caused by the impact of an asteroid more than 1,300 feet (400 meters) wide.
“Our simulations indicate that this crater was caused by the impact of an asteroid 400 meters wide in 500 to 800 meters of water,” said Dr. Veronica Bray from the University of Arizona.
“This could have caused a tsunami over a kilometer high, as well as a 6.5-magnitude earthquake or so,” she added.
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