Asteroid that wiped out dinosaurs also created life-supporting environment, study suggests

The meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs also created a life-supporting environment that lasted for eight million years, a study has found.

Officially known as the Chicxulub impactor, the asteroid smashed into Earth 66 million years ago.

Scientists say that the high heat created by the collision, could have helped other life on the planet.

Researchers say the discovery could improve our understanding of how life formed on early Earth.

The new study was carried out by an international team of scientists led by researchers from the University of Glasgow.

They took a closer look at samples taken from the Chicxulub crater in Mexico, which was formed when the meteorite hit the Earth at the end of what was known as the Cretaceous period.

The space rock itself was six miles wide, but it hit the surface of the Earth with so much force that it left a crater that is 90-miles wide.

It caused a mega-earthquake, started a global winter and is commonly believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs and most other life on Earth.

Today the impact crater is buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula on the southeastern coast of Mexico.

Despite the devastation caused on the Earth's surface, the team say the high heat led to the creation of a "hydrothermal system" beneath the crater.

Rocks that were melted met seawater from the Gulf of Mexico, creating sponge-like material which contained tiny pockets of water heated by the impact.

Scientists say these conditions are well-suited to sustaining microbial life.

They added that this life-supporting environment lasted for eight million years – making it the longest-lived system of its kind ever discovered.

The team say the discovery could also help with future searches for life on other planets.

Dr Annemarie Pickersgill, who was involved with the study, explained: "As we look to the future of space exploration, these findings could help future missions to other planets determine which impact craters might have been most likely to sustain life."