The Hidden Geometry

Chicxulub Multi-Ring Basin · Concentric Fracture Zones · 66 Million Years of Memory

Layers

Crater Geometry
Cenotes
Ring of Cenotes
Outer Basin (300 km)
Fracture Cenotes
Maya Sites
Distance Lines
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About

66 million years ago, an asteroid struck here, creating a multi-ring impact basin buried under 1 km of limestone. The impact fractured bedrock in concentric zones: an inner peak ring at 80 km, a crater rim at 180 km, and an outer basin reaching 260 km across. The most visible signature is a 165 km semicircle of cenotes tracing the primary fracture zone — but satellite imagery reveals the entire Yucatan landscape is shaped by rings within rings: concentric dissolution patterns, fracture-controlled wetlands, and karst features organized at multiple radii from the impact center.

Sources ↓
Pope, K.O., Ocampo, A.C., Duller, C.E. (1993). "Surficial Geology of the Chicxulub Impact Crater, Yucatan, Mexico." Earth, Moon, and Planets 63, 93-104. NASA PDF
Hildebrand, A.R. et al. (1995). "Size and Structure of the Chicxulub Crater Revealed by Horizontal Gravity Gradients and Cenotes." Nature 376, 415-417. DOI
Perry, E.C. et al. (1995). "Ring of Cenotes (Sinkholes), Northwest Yucatan, Mexico." Geology 23(1), 17-20. DOI
Morgan, J.V., Warner, M.R. et al. (1997). "Size and morphology of the Chicxulub impact crater." Nature 390, 472-476. Multi-ring basin extending to ~130 km radius. DOI
Pilkington, M. et al. (1994). "Gravity and magnetic field modeling and structure of the Chicxulub Crater." JGR 99(E6), 13147-13162. Multiple concentric gravity anomaly rings. DOI