Would you drink 100-million-year-old seawater if safely filtered?
Chapter 1

The Yucatán smoking gun

Chapter 2

The Chesapeake Bay surprise

Chapter 3

The deep-ocean splash

Chapter 4

The detective tools of marine geology

YOUR GOAL

Master of Cosmic scars beneath the ocean floor

Ch 2 · The Chesapeake Bay surprise
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007skaty An ancient asteroid impact altered the paths of Virginia's rivers.

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Our current paths are often shaped by ancient, forgotten disruptions.

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007skaty A giant asteroid created the Chesapeake Bay impact crater.

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How rivers took a detour

007skaty Sediment slumping over a shattered crater rim created a permanent lowland depression, shaping the modern outline of the

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The buried saltwater time capsule

007skaty A classical Renaissance fresco depicts a glowing saltwater aquifer buried beneath the seabed.

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The Chesapeake Bay surprise
BETA

007skaty Scan the ocean floor to discover the ancient space impact hidden beneath the Chesapeake Bay.

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Fun Fact

Ancient water trapped: The saltwater trapped beneath the Chesapeake Bay crater has been isolated for over 100 million years, making it older than the Atlantic Ocean itself.

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Glossary
aquifer (noun)
An underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock, gravel, sand, or silt from which groundwater can be extracted. An ancient space collision in Virginia disrupted local aquifers, creating a massive, highly salty underground reservoir.

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Gossip

Would you drink 100-million-year-old seawater if safely filtered?

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Quiz

How far north was the ejecta layer from the Chesapeake Bay impact found in Atlantic City?

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007skaty Prehistoric North Atlantic seawater remains trapped deep underground.

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Gossip

Which local geographic feature would you most explore?

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Quiz

What type of crater is the Chesapeake Bay crater known as due to hitting water?

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Quiz

How deep is the buried Chesapeake Bay impact crater?

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Quiz

Approximately how many million years ago did the Chesapeake Bay impact occur?

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Quiz

In what decade was the first evidence of the Chesapeake Bay impact crater discovered?

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Quiz

What unique resource trapped beneath the Chesapeake Bay crater is twice as salty as modern seawater?

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Quiz

Which two modern rivers are diverted sharply around the rim of the Chesapeake Bay crater?

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Quiz

Which mountain range did the tsunamis from the Chesapeake Bay impact likely reach?

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