The Scars of the Yucatán

Thoughts of the scars left on the region by man and meteor

A modern building in Mérida, with pieces of Mayan ruins boxed in on the right

The Earth and Water

65 million years ago, as you might know, the epoch of the dinosaurs ended with a catastrophic meeting of two astronomical bodies, an asteroid and our Earth.

What you might not have known is that this catastrophic event left certain footprints, certain scars on the region it struck, the Yucatán peninsula in Southern Mexico.

One was iridium. An element that is relatively rare on Earth but pretty common in asteroids. This was found in a very high concentration within the region, and later discovered in small amounts all around the world. Mostly likely spread by the impact and subsequent ejection of material into the atmosphere.

Also within the Yucatán are these beautiful sinkholes with crystal clear water, Cenotes. They form partly because of the limestone structures in the region and underground rivers, but most importantly, they are there because of a massive impact that created the conditions for them to be formed.

A cenote about an hour south of Mérida, Photo by the Author

Like a smith hammering out a flaming hot piece of iron, this life ending impact triggered a set of…