Chicxulub Tsunami Run-Up Graphic

Below is a graphic that comes from the Fall 2011 issue of the quarterly publication Lite Geology by the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources. It is a wonderful graphical time-line of the propagation of the tsunami caused by the Chicxulub impact across the then-Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea and adjacent coastline and even into the adjacent part of the Atlantic Ocean. The following colors correspond to the following tsunami maximum heights as determined by mathematical equations and computer simulations:

• Blue - Dark Purple ~ up to u4-1/4 feet
• Medim Purple - Light Purple ~ up to almost 8 feet
• Pink - Light Red ~ up to 13-3/4 feet
• Various Red ~ up to 24-1/2 feet
• Various Orange ~ up to 43-1/2 feet
• Dark Yellow - Medium Yellow ~ up to 77-1/2 feet
• Light Yellow ~ up to 138-1/2 feet

The brown-gray colored part of the map shows the then-current land mass and corresponding coastline in the region at the time of the impact about 65 million years ago while juxtaposed atop it is a map showing the outlines of the current coastlines and state and national borders.

Graphic courtesy Lite Geology by the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources