A mysterious basin off the west coast of India could be the largest known crater on Earth, caused by a devastating cosmic impact. And if new research findings are correct, this impact may have been responsible for the extermination of the dinosaurs 65 million years.
Sankar Chatterjee of Texas Tech University, and a team of researchers closely examined the huge Shiva Basin, a depression in the western shadow of India, which is heavily exploited for its oil and gas. Some complex craters are among the largest deposits of oil production on the planet.
If researchers are right, this is the largest known crater on Earth. It is estimated that the star that caused this crater was measured about 40 kilometers in diameter. The impact of a body of this size is capable of generating its own tectonic.
Instead, the object that struck the Yucatan Peninsula, and is commonly considered guilty of exterminating the dinosaurs, was only 8 to 10 kilometers in diameter.
is difficult to imagine the upheaval caused by the impact forged Shiva Basin. But if the team is right, the impact vaporized the Earth's crust at the collision point, leaving only ultracaliente mantle material. Impact is likely to boost colossal volcanic eruptions in the nearby Deccan Traps lava that spilled a huge area around it. Moreover, the impact separated the Seychelles Islands of the tectonic plate of India, and sent to Africa.
The geological evidence is spectacular. The outer edge of the Shiva Basin forms a ring about 500 kilometers in diameter, surrounding the central peak. Most of the crater lies submerged on the continental shelf of India, but the place where it touches land is characterized by high cliffs, active faults and hot springs. The impact appears to have reduced or destroyed most of the granite layer 50 km thick in the west coast of India.
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