he IICEAC is an inter- and multidisciplinary center dedicated to research, education, outreach and science communication in the Earth, life and planetary sciences. Main areas of interest include the Chicxulub impact, mass extinctions, impact cratering, macroevolution, the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary, paleogeography, paleoclimates, paleoceanography, meteorites and planetary system.
Current research projects include marine geophysical surveys in the Chicxulub crater and the Yucatan platform, drilling projects, geophysical surveys, Yucatan karst, Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary, Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum and Cretaceous and Cenozoic paleoclimates.
The IICEAC conducts projects related to study the surface geology, aquifer, karsticity, marine platform, coastline processes, geological risks, contamination, etc. Projects include geophysical surveys, drilling and coring, borehole logging and geological mapping.
The Chicxulub crater is covered by carbonate sediments deposited after crater formation. The post-impact sediments have a thickness of around 1100 to 200 m and have been investigated by drilling and geophysical surveys. The impactite section with the breccias and melt fill the crater interior. The breccias formed by fragmented rocks and hydrothermally altered are compacted by the rocks above.
The differential compaction is reflected at the surface by subsidence and fracturing. Groundwater flows through the fracture system with carbonate dissolution and formation of karst. The fracture system associated with the crater rim and terrace zone form the ring of cenotes. The buried crater controls geological processes at surface, including the groundwater flow, karsticity, subsidence and fracturing.