A three-dimensional Bouguer gravity map of the Chicxulub Crater. Petroleum exploration boreholes (C1, S1, and Y6) penetrated the crater structure, which is buried several hundred meters below the surface of the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. The Yucatán-6 (Y6) borehole is the discovery hole where Kring and others found shocked quartz and other evidence of impact origin. That discovery prompted the drilling of the Yaxcopoil-1 (Yax-1) borehole, which was the first scientific borehole drilled into the structure by the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) in 2001-2002. As described in the current Science paper, data from that drilling project, when integrated with other K-Pg boundary analyses from around the world, provide a strong link between the Chicxulub impact crater and a mass extinction event 65 million years ago. Proposals to drill into other portions of the immense structure are pending with the ICDP and the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program.

Credit: David A. Kring