Found traces of a mega-earthquake that lasted from several weeks to months

About 66 million years ago, a 10-kilometer asteroid hit the Earth, causing the extinction of the dinosaurs. New

data suggests thatThe Chicxulub impact also caused an earthquake so strong that it shook the planet for weeks or months after the impact. The amount of energy released during this “megaquake” is estimated at 1023 J. This is about 50,000 times more energy than was released during the 9.1 magnitude Sumatra earthquake in 2004.

German Bermudez will provide evidence of this"megaquakes" at the Geological Society of America's upcoming GSA Connects meeting in Denver, USA, this Sunday, October 9th. Earlier this year, Bermudez visited the famous Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary (K-Pg mass extinction boundary) in Texas, Alabama and Mississippi to collect data. They complemented his previous work in Colombia and Mexico.

The boundary of the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods -geological structure, usually a thin band of rock. This boundary is at the end of the Cretaceous and marks the beginning of the Paleogene period, the first period of the Cenozoic era.

In 2014 carrying out fieldResearch on the island of Gorgonilla in Colombia, Bermudez discovered deposits in the form of balls (up to 1.1 mm in size) and fragments of tektites and microtektites. They were thrown into the atmosphere during an asteroid impact. These glass beads were formed when the heat and pressure of the impact melted and dispersed the Earth's crust, releasing small molten droplets into the atmosphere, which then fell back to the surface as glass under the influence of gravity.

Spherical deposits on Gorgonilla Island. Credit: German Bermudez

When the scientist studied the deformed layer, richballs on Gorgonilla Island in Colombia, he realized that seismic activity after the asteroid impact persisted for several weeks or even months after the impact.

Deformed layer rich in beads onGorgonilla Island (Colombia), showing that seismic activity continued for weeks or months after the impact. Credit: German Bermudez

The site that the scientist discovered on the islandGorgonilla, he called "a fantastic place" to study the K-Pg boundary. This is one of the best preserved sites. It is located deep in the ocean, so it was not affected by the tsunami. Evidence of deformation from the megaquake also persisted in Mexico and the United States.

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