Chicxulub Ejecta Trenches and Terminal Impact

DISCOVERY During a Pacific voyage from E. Australia to the US on a small sailing research vessel what appears to be two Chicxulub impact trenches were discovered in the ocean floor at depths of 4,627m and 3,519m. DESCRIPTION Trench A begins at a depth of 4,627m, 704km from the Chicxulub impact and is 18km long, 5km wide and 225m deep. Trench B begins at a depth of 3,519m, 732km from the Chixculub impact and is 23km long, 7 km wide and 400m deep. At the end of Trench B is what appears to be a debris deposit 5km long. Their relationship to the Chicxulub impact seems confirmed by their central axis, which when extended intersect at the Chicxulub impact at N Lat 21.33, W Long 89.5. Down range 286km from the end of Trench B is what appears to be the terminal impact of the object that created the two trenches. This is in the form of several large boulders, small seamounts, and islands in shallower depths indicating breakup of the object 1040km from the Chicxulub impact. The trenches are in an area of the Caribbean where currents prevented them from being silted in, preserving their physical form on the ocean floor. The object that created the trenches could have been large ejecta from the impact or possibly part of the asteroid that separated before impact or upon impact and carried on 1000km down range. The trajectory of both trenches is an upward angle of about 3 degrees. This indicates that the trajectory of the object was at a low angle, very high velocity and was deflected slightly upward upon impact with the ocean floor 3,519m below sea level. RESEARCH The first two phases of 10 phases consisting of mapping, exploration, research, and documentation of the impacts have been completed. Phase 1 consisted of assembling available sea floor data of the area of the impacts. Phase 2 consisted of selecting aerial and under water images from Google Earth, preparing bathymetric mapping from a GEBCO_08. BODC raster analysis with 50m contour intervals of the impact area, preparing the Trajectory Section, and locating 12km wide cross sections of the trenches at 4km intervals. Future phases will consist of Telepresence Enabled Exploration of sea floor mapping, seismic mapping, photographic imaging, sea floor samples, core drilling, animated 3D imagery, a documentary film and presentation to the scientific community. GLOBAL SIGNIFICANCE This research will contribute to the knowledge of the phenomenon of the Chicxulub Impact, related impacts and potential identification of its composition. When mapping the 4 asteroids with impact ages of approximately 65 Ma with the trench impact location we find that 3 of the asteroids, Chicxulub, Mexico 150 km diameter; Eagle Butte, Canada 10 km diameter; Vista Alegre, Brazil 9.5 km diameter are in the same orbital plane as the Trench site. This suggests that the smaller asteroids, Eagle Butte and Vista Alegre, separated from the larger Chicxulub Asteroid upon entry and impacted at different locations but on the same orbital plane. The impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy on Jupiter had 21 impacts over 6 days as the smaller comets separated as it entered the gravitational field of Jupiter. AUTHOR/PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR ROBERT L. PAGE, PROF EMERITUS, KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY MAPPING BY JARED PHUMPHERY, MLA, KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY