What is the special explosive mineral that lay in the Gulf of Mexico?

Question

Until recently the theory of a meteor strike creating the Chicxulub Crater and causing mass extinction of the dinosaurs was just that; a theory. They didn't think the measurements added up until they discovered a certain material laying on the ocean floor which just so happens to pretty much only sit like this in the Gulf of Mexico.

They said if a meteor were to hit this precise spot that the mineral would amplify the explosion exponentially and this is how the world of science became unified in the this theory now being accepted as fact. If a meteor this size had hit anywhere else on Earth the dinosaurs would have probably survived.

Anybody know what this mineral is? I just can't remember nor am I succesful in mining for it on the web.

Well, "they" are the scientists I saw on a PBS special several years back. After adding the words "methane hydrate" to my data mining I was quickly able to find what I was looking for.

Thanks for the reminder John V.

Answer 1

Methane Clathrate, aka methane hydrate or methane ice. There seems to be increasing talk about combinations of circumstances triggering the extinction events of the past, P-T, Chicxulub. No way to know if clathrates played any role in the Permian-Triassic event, since all the ocean floor from that time has recycled already. Guess we'll have to wait for the next one to know for sure.

Answer 2

I'm not sure who "they" are, but don't ever take any advice from them. You have bad information. There's no such mineral. You're confusing it with iridium which got deposited all over the world. The iridium was in the meteorite that fell in the Yucatan peninsula.

Answer 3

I just saw this question on the front page. Man ,I gotta hang out in this section more. Very deep stuff. (I have no idea the answer to your question)