Whirling through space over 65 million years ago, an asteroid, six miles in diameter, collided with Earth, causing the giant Chicxulub Crater and a mass extinction level event. Eventually, the crater was found in the late 1970s and positively identified in the 1990s. Scientists believe that this was the asteroid that ended the Cretaceous Period and wiped out 75 percent of life on the planet. However, what if this wasn’t the only asteroid to hit Earth that day?
Recent findings on the Guinea Plateau off the shore of West Africa have identified a second possible impact crater that could have aided in ending the Cretaceous Period. Using a seismic reflection data set — a method that sends acoustic waves down a water column to map the seafloor — researchers may have identified another impact creator just over five miles (8.5 km) wide.
Buried under about 980-1300 feet (300-400 meters) of ...
