Learn how a giant asteroid hit the Earth 66 million years ago and caused the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction. See the rock cores from the Chicxulub crater that reveal the impact, tsunami, fire, and global cooling. It is believed that the asteroid impact fractured the limestone bedrock, creating this network of sinkholes and underground caverns. Today, this subsurface crater is known as the Chicxulub crater (pronounced chick-shoo-loob). While the center of impact is just off the Yucatán coast, the crater is named after the inland town, Chicxulub Pueblo. The moment the Chicxulub asteroid struck Earth, it set off a chain of catastrophic events that would reshape the planet’s surface and atmosphere in seconds, minutes, and hours. Learn about the Chicxulub impactor, a massive asteroid that hit Earth 66 million years ago and caused the Cretaceous–Palaeogene extinction event. Find out how the impact created a crater in Mexico, blocked out the sun, and may have been linked to another crater in West Africa.
