Chicxulub Crater: Not in New Mexico or Haiti—It's in Mexico's Yucatán

Correcting the Premise

The Chicxulub asteroid impact (66 Mya, dinosaur extinction) occurred on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico—not New Mexico, not Haiti.

Key Facts

• Location: Centered near Chicxulub Puerto, Yucatán State, Mexico (buried under 600–1,000 m sediment).
• Crater: ~180 km (110 mi) diameter; half onshore, half offshore.
• Discovery: 1970s PEMEX oil surveys; confirmed 1990s (gravity, magnetic, drilling).
• Global Effects: Tsunamis, wildfires, impact winter, 75% species extinction.

Why the Confusion?

• New Mexico: Has impact craters (e.g., Meteor Crater in AZ, not NM; NM has volcanic features).
• Haiti: No impact crater; shares Hispaniola with DR; tectonic (Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault).

The Chicxulub event is a uniquely Mexican geological landmark with planetary consequences.