Chicxulub Crater Cores Show Hydrothermal Activity Lasted 8 Million Years After Asteroid Impact

Rock cores drilled one kilometre into the Chicxulub crater show that hydrothermal activity continued for at least 8 million years after the asteroid struck 66 million years ago. Annemarie Pickersgill at the University of Glasgow said the impact melted about 10,000 cubic kilometres of rock and deformed the crust at least 35 kilometres beneath the surface.

The combination of melted rock and seawater formed a porous hydrothermal system filled with pockets of hot water.

Potassium-argon dating of the cores produced ages ranging from 66 million years ago to about 58 million years ago. Pickersgill said the spread of dates demonstrates that hydrothermal circulation persisted in at least part of the structure for 8 million years.

Sulphur isotopes within the same cores indicate that microbial life existed inside the hydrothermal system, though the impact still caused the extinction of three-quarters of species on Earth.

The study concludes that the site took at least 8 million years to cool enough for the activity to cease. The asteroid is estimated to have measured up to 15 kilometres in diameter. The collision caused the extinction of three-quarters of species on Earth, including all non-avian dinosaurs, and triggered a nuclear winter that lasted at least 15 years.

Chris Kirkland at Curtin University said large impacts can create long-lived underground hydrothermal systems where hot fluids circulate through shattered rock. He noted that these chemically rich settings may provide sheltered habitats for microbes. 1038/s43247-026-03618-5.