Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary had been that no documented crater matched the event. This was not a lethal blow to the theory; while the crater resulting from the impact would have been larger than in diameter, Earth's geological processes hide or destroy craters over time. The Chicxulub crater (; ) is an impact crater buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Its center is located near the town of Chicxulub, after which the crater is named. It was formed by a large asteroid or comet about in diameter, the Chicxulub impactor, striking the Earth. The date of the impact coincides precisely with the Cretaceous–Paleogene
Yucatán Peninsula telling, the first Spanish explorers asked what the area was called and the response they received, "Yucatan", was a Yucatec Maya word meaning "I don't understand what you're saying." Others claim that the source of the name is the Nahuatl (Aztec) word Yocatlān, "place of richness." The Yucatán Peninsula is the site of the Chicxulub crater impact, which was created 66 million years ago by an asteroid of about 10 to 15 kilometres (6 to 9 miles) in diameter at the end of the Cretaceous Period. The Yucatán Peninsula comprises a significant proportion of the ancient Maya lowlands (although the