Scientists discover asteroid crater, it may be dinosaur killer's baby cousin

A new asteroid crater has been found approximately 400km off the coast of Guinea in Western Africa which could be the dinosaur killer's baby cousin.

Scientistsbelieve that the asteroid created an impact crater with a diameter of 8.5km more than 300m below the seabed.

Dr Uisdean Nicholson from Heriot-Watt University identified the hidden depression when he was analysing seismic survey data to better understand past climatic changes on Earth.

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Recording the different layers of rock and sediment underground, the surveys are frequently obtained by oil and gas prospectors.

Nicholson told BBC that "Nadir's shape is diagnostic of an asteroid impact. It's got a raised rim surrounding a central uplift area, and then layers of debris that extend outwards."

When an asteroid slammed into what is now the Gulf of Mexico 66 million years ago it wiped out dinosaurs and this particular study has raised the question of whether the Earth was bombarded on that terrible day by more than one space rock.

Throwing dusty material into the sky, the asteroid that created the Chicxulub Crater in the Gulf of Mexico is estimated to have been about 12km across.

Dr Veronica Bray from the University of Arizona said, "Our simulations suggest this crater was caused by the collision of a 400m-wide asteroid in 500-800m of water."

Amid speculation that the impactor that created Boltysh Crater in Ukraine may also be related to the Chicxulub, Nicholson's team has to be cautious about tying it to Nadir.

Highlighting the possibility that Nadir might have struck the planet a million or two years on either side of the Mexican cataclysm, professor Sean Gulick said that to find out whether they are the same or not the rocks from the west African crater are inspected in the lab.

(With inputs from agencies)

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