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Paleomagnetic Insights into Impact Processes at Chicxulub Crater


Feb. 4, 2025, 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
3853 Slichter Hall

Presented By:
Prof. Sonia Tikoo-Schantz
Stanford University

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Impact cratering is arguably the most ubiquitous modifier of planetary surfaces across the solar system. Impacts expose target rocks to powerful shock waves and heat that can substantially modify their physical properties. Subsequently, hot fluids moving through crater rocks can generate long-lived hydrothermal systems that can serve as habitats for thermophilic microorganisms. Shock, heat, and alteration can produce different forms of remanent magnetization that are preserved within craters, and thus paleomagnetism may be used to elucidate a variety of impact processes. Here we discuss how paleomagnetic records and bulk rock magnetic properties from the 66 million-year-old, 200-km diameter, Chicxulub impact crater shed light into how the crater formed, the origin of magnetic anomalies, the nature and duration of post-impact hydrothermal activity, and implications for the habitability of post-impact environments.