This expedition aims to drill and core into the Chicxulub impact structure to recover cores from, and above, the peak ring. In doing so, the expedition aims to address several questions, including: 1) what rocks comprise a topographic peak ring and how are peak rings formed; 2) how are rocks weakened during large impacts to allow them to collapse and form relatively wide, flat craters; 3) what caused the environmental changes that led to a mass extinction and what insights arise from biologic recovery in the Paleogene; and 4) what effect does a large impact have on the deep subsurface biosphere and can impacts generate habitats for chemosynthetic life?
The expedition will drill and core a single 1500 m deep borehole at site about 30km northwest of Progreso, Mexico, on the Yucatan shelf, Gulf of Mexico.
Alternate Sites: .Chicx-02A and Chicx-04A.