Dinosaur crater’s clue to origin of life

By Paul Rincon

The crater made by the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs is revealing clues to the origins of life on Earth.

Scientists have drilled into the 200km-wide Chicxulub crater now buried under the Gulf of Mexico.

They say its rocks show evidence of having been home to a large “hydrothermal system”, where hot fluids flowed through cracks and fissures.

Similar systems, generated by impacts on the early Earth, could have helped kickstart the first lifeforms.

The hydrothermal system at Chicxulub may have been active for two million years or more, the scientists say.

Dr David Kring, from the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, is one of the researchers who discovered and reported the crater’s location.

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