[Aztlan] Chicxulub; Mayan languages

[David Hixson]

Robert is correct in that Chicxulub is the closest historic Maya port town to the off-shore impact crater that has been theorized to mark a massive extinction event.

For imagery and discussion of this feature, I suggest the following web sites:
http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/24/6/527
http://www.amazon.com/End-Dinosaurs-Chicxulub-Crater-Extinctions/dp/0521474477
 
Whether or not the Chicxulub crater caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, it still affects the hydrology of the northern Maya lowlands, including the area dominated by modern Merida.  Many archaeological sites from the Classic and Late Classic periods cluster around the various water sources provided by this meteoric event.
 
The ripples from the impact caused many karstic pockets to sink into the water table, causing a "ring of cenotes" (as well as a secondary "minor" ring of cenotes).
 
The crater itself is visible in SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) data -- best viewed at the 30 m per pixel level that is only available through NASA.  But the 90 meter data is available for public use in Mexico.
 
The ring of cenotes is visible in most LANDSAT imagery (best identified in the mid-infrared bands contrasted with visible blue in RGB color space).
 
-Dave
 __________________________________________________
David Hixson
Ph.D. Candidate
Tulane Anthropology
chunchucmil at yahoo.com
www.mesoamerican-archives.com


"Nothing more useless than a bored archaeologist"
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________________________________
From: Robert Talkington <sakbakkan at msn.com>
To: ANTHONY APPLEYARD <a.appleyard at btinternet.com>; aztlan at lists.famsi.org; David Hixson <chunchucmil at yahoo.com>
Sent: Fri, January 15, 2010 1:36:01 PM
Subject: Re: [Aztlan] Chicxulub; Mayan languages


In 1991 geologists identified a deeply buried, 180-kilometer-wide crater in the Yucatán peninsula. Now known as Chicxulub, the scar resulted from the impact of a 10-km asteroid or comet nucleus 65 million years ago that triggered global tidal waves, worldwide firestorms, and massive earthquakes. When the planet finally returned to normal, the dinosaurs and the majority of all then-living species had gone extinct, paving the way for mammals to evolve and dominate Earth. 
 http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/images/yucatan.htmlhttp://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=8http://photojournal.jpl..nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03379