Evidence of this “mega-earthquake” will be presented at the upcoming GSA Connects conference in Denver this Sunday, October 9, by Hermann Bermúdez, a PhD student in the Environmental Science and Management program at Montclair State University. While doing fieldwork on Colombias Gorgonilla Island in 2014, Bermúdez found spherule deposits. Layers of mud and sandstone as far as 35-50 feet (10-15 meters) listed below the sea flooring experienced soft-sediment contortion that is protected in the outcrops today, which Bermúdez attributes to the shaking from the impact. At the El Papalote exposure in Mexico, Bermúdez observed evidence of liquefaction– when strong shaking causes water-saturated sediments to flow like a liquid. Bermúdez will deliver a talk about evidence for the mega-earthquake at the GSA Connects conference in Denver on Sunday, October 9, 2022.
New evidence recommends that the Chicxulub asteroid effect activated an earthquake so monstrous that it shook the world for weeks to months after the crash.
A 6-mile (10-kilometer) asteroid hit Earth 66 million years ago, setting off the extinction of the dinosaurs. According to brand-new evidence, the Chicxulub impact also activated an earthquake that was so massive it shook the world for weeks to months after the accident. This “mega-earthquake” launched an unbelievable amount of energy, approximated at 1023 joules, which is about 50,000 times more energy than was launched in the magnitude 9.1 Sumatra earthquake in 2004.
Proof of this “mega-earthquake” will be provided at the upcoming GSA Connects conference in Denver this Sunday, October 9, by Hermann Bermúdez, a PhD trainee in the Environmental Science and Management program at Montclair State University. Earlier this year, with assistance from a GSA Graduate Student Research Grant, Bermúdez went to outcrops of the notorious Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction event border in Texas, Alabama, and Mississippi to gather data. This supplemented his previous operate in Colombia and Mexico recording proof of the disastrous effect.
Art Work by Hermann Bermúdez illustrating one dinosaurs experience of the Chicxulub effect. Credit: Hermann Bermúdez
While doing fieldwork on Colombias Gorgonilla Island in 2014, Bermúdez discovered spherule deposits. These are layers of sediment filled with small glass beads (as large as 0.04 inches/ 1.1 mm) and shards understood as tektites and microtektites that were ejected into the environment during an asteroid effect. These glass beads were developed when the heat and pressure of the impact melted and distributed the crust of the Earth, ejecting small, melted blobs up into the environment, which then fall back to the surface under the impact of gravity, cooling to glass along the way.
Deformed spherule-rich layer at Gorgonilla Island (Colombia) revealing that seismic activity continued for weeks or months after impact. Credit: Hermann Bermúdez
The rocks exposed on the coast of Gorgonilla Island tell a story from the bottom of the ocean– approximately 1.2 miles (2 km) down. There, about 2,000 miles (3,000 km) southwest from the site of the effect, sand, mud, and small ocean creatures were building up on the ocean flooring when the asteroid hit. Layers of mud and sandstone as far as 35-50 feet (10-15 meters) below the sea floor experienced soft-sediment contortion that is maintained in the outcrops today, which Bermúdez attributes to the shaking from the impact. Faults and contortion due to shaking continue up through the spherule-rich layer that was transferred post-impact. This recommends that the shaking need to have continued for the months and weeks it took for these finer-grained deposits to reach the ocean floor. Maintained fern spores just above those spherule deposits indicate the first recovery of plant life after the effect.
Spherule deposits on Gorgonilla Island. Credit: Hermann Bermúdez.
Bermúdez explains, “The area I found on Gorgonilla Island is a fantastic location to study the K-Pg limit, because it is among the best-preserved and it was located deep in the ocean, so it was not impacted by tsunamis.”
At the El Papalote exposure in Mexico, Bermúdez observed evidence of liquefaction– when strong shaking causes water-saturated sediments to stream like a liquid. In Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas, Bermúdez documented faults and cracks most likely associated with the mega-quake.
Bermúdez will provide a speak about evidence for the mega-earthquake at the GSA Connects conference in Denver on Sunday, October 9, 2022. He will likewise present a poster about his observations of tsunami deposits and earthquake-related deformation on Monday, October 10, which will be offered in English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Chinese. In discussing his research study, he highlighted the important function collaboration has actually played in checking out and studying numerous outcrops that tell the story of this extreme occasion in Earths history.
The Chicxulub Mega-Earthquake: Evidence from Colombia, Mexico, and the United States Author: Hermann Bermúdez, Montclair State University https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2022AM/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/377578 Sunday, 9 October 2022, 3:45 PM-4:00 PM
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