Daily Mail

The newly studied Nadir crater, located off the coast of Guinea in West Africa, measures nearly five miles across and was created by an asteroid estimated to be 450-500 meters wide.

Guardian

Using 3D seismic imaging, scientists mapped the crater rim and geological scars 300 meters beneath the ocean floor, providing unprecedented detail of a marine impact crater.

The asteroid that created the Nadir crater is believed to have struck Earth at approximately 72,000 kilometers per hour, coming from 20-40 degrees to the northeast.

The impact triggered intense tremors, liquefying sediments beneath the ocean floor, causing faults to form, and unleashing a massive tsunami over 800 meters high that would have traveled across the Atlantic.

While smaller than the Chicxulub impact linked to dinosaur extinction, the Nadir crater discovery suggests the possibility of a cluster of asteroid impacts at the end of the Cretaceous period.

Multiple asteroids caused dinosaur extinction, scientists find - 1199615911

Space

Research

West Africa

The Nadir crater, while significant, pales in comparison to the Chicxulub impact. Its effects were likely localized and may not have contributed significantly to global climate change or mass extinction. The focus should remain on the larger, more catastrophic Chicxulub event when discussing the end-Cretaceous extinction.

The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs was NOT alone: Scientists discover evidence that a second devastating space rock smashed into Earth 66 million years ago

Double Asteroid Impact: New Evidence from African Crater

Videos

Apps

Double Asteroid Impact: New Evidence from African Crater

MultipleDouble asteroidsAsteroid causedImpact: dinosaurNew extinction,Evidence scientistsfrom findAfrican - 1199615911Crater

The Facts

The Spin

Sign up to our daily newsletter