RE: LeoThread 2026-03-31 01-12
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Puppis A, immense in scale, is a supernova remnant about 100 light‑years across and sits roughly 6,500–7,000 light‑years from Earth (Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA — Image Processing: T.A. Rector, M. Zamani & D. de Martin)
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Beneath the Atlantic, researchers have mapped the Nadir Crater, a nearly 5.7‑mile (9.2 km) impact structure buried under about 1,000 feet (300 m) of sediment on the Guinea Plateau.
Formed around 66 million years ago near the time of the dinosaur extinction, high‑resolution 3D seismic imaging reveals it was gouged by an approximately 1,500‑foot (400–500 m) asteroid striking the seafloor at roughly 45,000 mph (72,000 km/h).
Unlike land craters that erode, this marine site was rapidly buried and exceptionally preserved, showing widespread seafloor fracturing, a central uplift rising hundreds of meters, terraced rims, and intense subsurface deformation—classic signs of a hypervelocity collision.
In the chaotic minutes after impact, molten material surged and the crust rebounded violently.
The strike displaced huge volumes of water in an ocean about 2,600 feet (800 m) deep, generating tsunami waves exceeding 2,600 feet (800 m) near the impact and sending megawaves across the Atlantic that reshaped distant seabeds through powerful resurge and propagation.
This discovery offers an unprecedented view of how asteroid impacts operate in marine settings and suggests Nadir could represent a second catastrophic strike during the Cretaceous–Paleogene interval, possibly part of an impact cluster or a fragmented parent body.
Source: Nicholson, U., et al., "3D anatomy of the Cretaceous–Paleogene age Nadir Crater," Communications Earth & Environment (2024)