{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1797165,
        "msgid": "dinosaur-killing-asteroid-created-a-microbial-haven-for-8-million-years-1781153513",
        "date": "2026-06-11 11:14:00",
        "title": "Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Created a Microbial Haven for 8 Million Years",
        "author": "Thalatie Kaprina Yani",
        "source": "MEDIA_INDONESIA",
        "tags": "",
        "topic": "Science",
        "summary": "A new study reveals that the asteroid impact which wiped out the dinosaurs also generated a vast sub-surface hydrothermal system lasting at least 8 million years, far longer than previously thought. Researchers dated minerals from the Chicxulub crater to confirm the sustained, warm, wet environment that supported microbial life. The findings challenge understanding of Earth's history and provide insights for the search for life on Mars.",
        "content": "<p>The colossal asteroid impact that annihilated the dinosaurs 66\nmillion years ago has always been identified with global apocalypse.\nHowever, a recent study has revealed another side to the catastrophe.\nBesides bringing destruction to the surface, the massive impact\napparently created one of the longest-lasting underground ecosystems in\nEarth\u2019s history, capable of supporting microbial life. When an asteroid\nroughly 10 kilometres in diameter struck Mexico\u2019s Yucat\u00e1n Peninsula,\nabout 75% of living creatures on Earth perished instantly. Nevertheless,\nthe impact also birthed a vast underground environment that was warm and\nwet. Interestingly, this system was able to support microbial life for\nat least 8 million years, four times longer than scientists had\npreviously estimated. Through state-of-the-art computer simulations,\nresearchers found the hydrothermal system beneath the legendary\nChicxulub Crater persisted far beyond expectations. This makes it the\nlongest-lasting asteroid impact-generated hydrothermal system ever\ndocumented on Earth. \u2018Wherever you find warm, flowing water on Earth,\nyou find life, and we have long known that asteroid impacts create\nhydrothermal systems,\u2019 said Annemarie Pickersgill, one of the study\u2019s\nauthors from the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre\n(SUERC). \u2018Earlier research in the early 2000s estimated this system only\nlasted about two million years based on computer models considered\nconservative at the time. However, we were still surprised by our latest\nresults,\u2019 she added. Chronologically, the violent Chicxulub impact\npunched a hole in the Earth, forming a crater 200 kilometres wide and\nreleasing massive thermal energy into the crust. Shortly thereafter,\nseawater from the Gulf of Mexico seeped into the fractured and melted\nrock beneath the crater. This process created a network of underground\npores and fissures filled with hot water, ideal conditions highly\nfavoured by microbes. To prove the duration of this system, the\nscientific team examined rock samples drilled from beneath the seabed of\nthe Chicxulub Crater in 2016. In these samples, they found\npotassium-rich feldspar minerals formed from the circulation of hot\nfluids post-impact. Using argon-argon dating methods, researchers\nconfirmed these minerals formed continuously from 66 million to 58\nmillion years ago, indicating hydrothermal activity that blazed on for 8\nmillion years. \u2018Advances in computational methods allow researchers to\nsimulate complex natural systems with unprecedented realism,\u2019 explained\nEvangelos Christou, one of the study\u2019s authors from the University of\nGlasgow. The findings, published in the journal Communications Earth\n&amp; Environment, not only change our perspective on Earth\u2019s history\nbut also provide important clues in the search for extraterrestrial\nlife, such as on Mars. \u2018The porous and fractured rocks created by the\nimpact provide microenvironments where microorganisms can be sheltered\nfrom radiation and extreme temperatures. These conditions offer life a\nchance to survive and thrive,\u2019 concluded Pickersgill.<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/dinosaur-killing-asteroid-created-a-microbial-haven-for-8-million-years-1781153513",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}