Dinosaur-killing impact crater might have been teeming with life
摘要
约6600万年前，希克苏鲁伯小行星撞击地球，引发海啸并抛射高温碎片，导致非鸟恐龙等大量物种灭绝。但研究显示，这次撞击也留下了有利于生命存在的条件。小行星击中今尤卡坦半岛一带，撞击在海底产生足够热量，形成持续约800万年的热液系统。2016年研究人员在撞击区钻取岩芯，分析撞击形成的岩石，以了解灾变后短期与长期过程。撞击使地下深处变形，影响深达约35公里，并熔化
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.
The collision was intense enough to cause deformation far beneath the surface. Subterranean effects reached 35 km (almost 22 miles) down, and included the melting an immense amount of rock. Exposure to seawater made that rock porous. As hot water seeped into the pores, a hydrothermal system formed. The hot water gushing into an isolated region of the freezing depths could have attracted microorganisms and possibly other life forms that were otherwise struggling to survive.
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