Why it matters

Chicxulub connects local geology with planetary consequences, giving the Earth section immediate scale.

What happenedA large buried impact structure beneath the Yucatan Peninsula, tied to one of the most famous boundaries in the history of life.
Why it mattersChicxulub connects local geology with planetary consequences, giving the Earth section immediate scale.
How scientists knowEarth Impact Database; NASA Image and Video Library

Measurements and uncertainty

Diameter180 km
Depthnot listed
Ageabout 66 million years
StatusConfirmed
Coordinates21.400° N / 89.500° W
Record levelextended

Extended record: core parameters have an editorial baseline, while age, depth, and preservation still require primary-source review.

Scientific profile

The structure is buried under sediments but is legible through gravity anomalies, drilling, impactites, and ring geometry.

Data provenanceEarth Impact Database; NASA Image and Video Library

Reconstruction gallery

More visual readings of the crater

If verified imagery is not enough, the profile receives a scientific reconstruction: not fantasy in place of fact, but a visual hypothesis clearly separated from sources.

World paletteocean blue, cloud light, and living green land
Visualization and satellite context for the Chicxulub region.
Current visual previewBase plate: source image, satellite material, or editorial plate where visual reading begins.
Reverse reconstructionmoving from the present trace back to the impact event
Chronological inversionreading the object from future state back through earlier layers
The present as an archive of the futuretreating today's profile as evidence for future analysis

Visual reconstruction

Reverse reconstruction → Chronological inversion → Bidirectional analysis → The present as an archive of the future

Every profile needs a visualization preview: an existing image, an aesthetically treated source, or a scientific reconstruction.

Reverse reconstructionmoving from the present trace back to the impact event
Chronological inversionreading the object from future state back through earlier layers
Bidirectional analysischecking past-to-present and present-to-past interpretations
The present as an archive of the futuretreating today's profile as evidence for future analysis

Research history

Its modern interpretation emerged in the late twentieth century through geophysics, drilling evidence, and the global iridium layer.

Sources

CSVJSONChicxulub. Crater.world record. Last reviewed 2026-05-08.
Last reviewed
2026-05-08
Source baseline
Earth Impact Database; NASA Image and Video Library
Uncertainty note
Extended record: core parameters have an editorial baseline, while age, depth, and preservation still require primary-source review.
Earth Impact DatabaseUniversity of New BrunswickNASA Image and Video LibraryNASA

Education mode

Facts

  • The crater is mostly buried and does not read as a classic bowl-shaped form.
  • It became a symbol of the link between impact geology and the biosphere.
Glossaryejecta, impact melt, breccia, central peak, erosion
Classroom questionWhich evidence separates an impact crater from a volcanic caldera?
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