Two world-famous Arizona attractions – the Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater Natural Landmark – may share a hidden connection, according to new research from the University of Arizona and the University of New Mexico.
Two world-famous Arizona attractions – the Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater Natural Landmark – may share a hidden connection, according to new research from the University of Arizona and the University of New Mexico.
Published in the journal Geology, an international research team presents the results of an intriguing "detective story" that has played out over several decades and across scientific disciplines: the meteorite impact just west of Winslow, Arizona, that created Meteor Crater about 56,000 years ago may have triggered a massive landslide that dammed the Colorado River and created an ancient lake 50 miles long and nearly 300 feet deep.
"It is important to understand the effects of meteor impacts on the Earth, such as the one that contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs, and we think we found a link between the strike that created Meteor Crater and a paleolake in the Grand Canyon that formed at the same time," said Chris Baisan, a senior research specialist at the U of A Laboratory for Tree-Ring Research.
Baisan is a co-lead author on the study with Karl Karlstrom from the University of New Mexico.
Read More: University of Arizona
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