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The existence of the impact crater known as Chicxulub was first proposed in 1980. In the 1990s, satellite data and ground studies allowed it to gain prominence among many scientists as the long sought-after "smoking gun" responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs and more than 70 percent of Earth's living species 65 million years ago. Now, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission has provided the most telling visible evidence to date of a 180 km wide, 900 m deep impact crater.
"This new, complete North American data set greatly expands our topographic knowledge of Canada, southern Alaska and its Aleutian Islands, Mexico and Central America," said Dr. Michael Kobrick, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "There are spectacular features that pop out at you in these maps as never before, and more subtle features, like Chicxulub, become apparent for the first time. In fact, much of the surface expression of Chicxulub is so subtle that if you walked across it you probably wouldn't notice it. That's where the view from space becomes invaluable."
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