# Did a meteor form the Gulf of Mexico (sorry, America)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 21, 2025, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-meteor-form-the-gulf-of-mexico-sorry-america/1017336 "2025-04-21T23:56:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DtypeJag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@DtypeJag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DtypeJag)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-meteor-form-the-gulf-of-mexico-sorry-america/1017336/1 "2025-04-21T23:56:27Z")
As everyone is aware, the Gulf looks like the remnant of a giant crater. Is anyone aware of any geological proof that it was created by the impact of a large meteor or asteroid? I don’t think I’ve ever heard any mention of this, yet it seems obvious on the face of it. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-meteor-form-the-gulf-of-mexico-sorry-america/1017336/2 "2025-04-22T00:04:00Z")
No, plate tectonics: > **[Gulf of Mexico basin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Mexico_basin)** > > The formation of the Gulf of Mexico, an oceanic rift basin located between North America and the Yucatan Block, was preceded by the breakup of the Supercontinent Pangaea in the Late-Triassic, weakening the lithosphere. Rifting between the North and South American plates continued in the Early-Jurassic, approximately 160 million years ago, and formation of the Gulf of Mexico, including subsidence due to crustal thinning, was complete by 140 Ma. Stratigraphy of the basin, which can be split into Be... ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-meteor-form-the-gulf-of-mexico-sorry-america/1017336/3 "2025-04-22T00:08:04Z")
There is of course the theory that a meteor strike in the Yucatan led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. > **[Alvarez hypothesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvarez_hypothesis)** > > The Alvarez hypothesis posits that the mass extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs and many other living things during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event was caused by the impact of a large asteroid on the Earth. Prior to 2013, it was commonly cited as having happened about 65 million years ago, but Renne and colleagues (2013) gave an updated value of 66 million years. Evidence indicates that the asteroid fell in the Yucatán Peninsula, at Chicxulub, Mexico. The hypothesis is named after In... Specifically the [Chicxulub crater](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_crater) is evidence that such a strike occurred. Whether or not it truly led to the extinction events is the matter of debate, not whether or not a strike happened. But that wasn’t nearly large enough to create the Gulf, of course. A 10 km (6 mile) wide asteroid is huge, devastatingly huge, but the Gulf is 1,500 km (810 miles) wide at its widest point. For an asteroid to create such a large space is… Consider this. When an object strikes the earth and makes a crater, it is usually 10-20 times the width as the depth. So, if this was a crater, for it to be 1,500 km wide it would be 75-150 km (47-93 miles) deep. The deepest part of the ocean is the Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean, which at its deepest is _almost_ 11 km. So why isn’t the Gulf that deep? Basically, when you say: > [@DtypeJag](#): > > the Gulf looks like the remnant of a giant crater It really doesn’t. It’s relatively shallow for its width if it was actually a crater. The deepest part of the Gulf is less than 4.5 km. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-meteor-form-the-gulf-of-mexico-sorry-america/1017336/4 "2025-04-22T00:21:11Z")
And any impact that did create a crater that large would have had absolutely devastating effects worldwide (it’d be much worse than the one that killed off the dinosaurs). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-meteor-form-the-gulf-of-mexico-sorry-america/1017336/5 "2025-04-22T01:28:23Z")
That’d be not quite “Spall off the Moon”-sized. But it would have been “Spall off a second rather large Moon2 to go along with the original Moon1”-sized. All in all, be a bad day to be a passenger on Earth. I’ll pass, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![DtypeJag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@DtypeJag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DtypeJag)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-meteor-form-the-gulf-of-mexico-sorry-america/1017336/6 "2025-04-22T03:19:43Z")
I realize its shallow for its size, but take a look at mare Imbrium on the moon. It and other mare are thought to be much more ancient than 65my. They were formed in the range of billions of years old not millions — while the earth itself was taking shape. They have been eroded away and filled in by techtonics and lava flows. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-meteor-form-the-gulf-of-mexico-sorry-america/1017336/7 "2025-04-22T03:31:48Z")
Any impact big enough to make the Gulf of Mexico would leave other evidence in the rocks. We see no such evidence. > [@PastTense](#): > > plate tectonics: Yup…that’s it: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/UevnAq1MTVA/maxresdefault.jpg "Scotese Plate Tectonics Paleogeography & Ice ages") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UevnAq1MTVA) ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-meteor-form-the-gulf-of-mexico-sorry-america/1017336/8 "2025-04-22T03:36:21Z")
No, North and South America pulling apart created it. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-meteor-form-the-gulf-of-mexico-sorry-america/1017336/9 "2025-04-22T06:27:05Z")
The video shows it to have occurred around 173 million years ago, in the Jurassic. The Gulf is the gap left when Yucatan moved south. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-meteor-form-the-gulf-of-mexico-sorry-america/1017336/10 "2025-04-22T15:08:23Z")
Here’s a nice [article](https://www.geoengineer.org/news/why-is-the-gulf-of-mexico-so-rich-in-fossil-fuel-deposits) on the origins of gas and oil deposits in the Gulf of Mexico that contains some information on its origins and history. Note that it went thru several cycles of drying out and refilling that left behind the salt layers that trapped the organic deposits. The refilling was initially from the Pacific Ocean (!) and later the Atlantic. Which is reason not to suppose the current basin boundaries correspond to the boundaries 100+ million years ago. Also, remember that Florida barely sticks out of the water. It’s just a slightly higher bit of seabed. It’s definitely not the remnants of a crater rim. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-meteor-form-the-gulf-of-mexico-sorry-america/1017336/11 "2025-04-23T11:38:25Z")
If you want a weirdly circular landform that looks like it _must_ be a meteor crater but probably isn’t, check out the [Nastapoka Arc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nastapoka_arc) on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-meteor-form-the-gulf-of-mexico-sorry-america/1017336/12 "2025-04-23T13:09:07Z")
Last year, a Canadian man was perusing Google maps while trying to find a place to hike, and found what appears to be a meteorite impact crater ([link](https://www.ndtv.com/science/canada-man-spots-suspicious-pit-on-google-maps-experts-say-it-could-be-meteorite-impact-crater-6533521)). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-meteor-form-the-gulf-of-mexico-sorry-america/1017336/13 "2025-04-23T13:15:45Z")
From that article: “it is thought to have been formed as a result of lithospheric flexure during the Trans-Hudson orogeny.” I love nerd talk. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-meteor-form-the-gulf-of-mexico-sorry-america/1017336/14 "2025-04-23T13:16:04Z")
Here’s a better known one, also in Canada - [The Eye of Quebec](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manicouagan_Reservoir). Thinking about the question in the OP, and considering the size difference between the Gulf and actual meteor craters, if the Gulf was created by one, it would likely be of planet-ending size, no? It would have to be a moon-sized object striking the earth squarely at high velocity to create a wound that big, I would think. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-meteor-form-the-gulf-of-mexico-sorry-america/1017336/15 "2025-04-23T13:27:34Z")
[Kind of sounds dirty, doesn’t it?](https://xkcd.com/1082/) (link is SFW, don’t worry) ---
**Author:** ![DtypeJag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@DtypeJag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DtypeJag)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-meteor-form-the-gulf-of-mexico-sorry-america/1017336/16 "2025-04-24T22:43:24Z")
Mare Imbrium is about 1200km in dia. There are other large Mare on the moon that were formed when the Solar System was young, say 3.5 to 4.5 billion yr. It is certain that many large meteors (Asteroids) hit the Earth during this same time period. It likely would have taken an asteroid of about 1/10 to 1/20 the dia of Mare depending on the velocity. The low heights of the surrounding topography is not unexpected and might be explained by the existence of weather on the earth and its great age. The shallowness may be a product of the flow of liquified rock and magma as on the moon.