Starting in April of next year, Yucatan will have the first geoscience museum in the peninsula. This is the Chicxulub Crater Museum, located within the Science and Technology Park of Yucatan, northern Mérida.
The Chicxulub crater is the result of the impact of a meteorite in the Yucatan Peninsula; however, due to the magnitude of the object that crashed on the planet, it is impossible to appreciate the crater at first glance and it is only known of its existence due to the studies carried out by Pemex in the state when it was looking for oil deposits, back in the 1970s.
The Museum is promoted by the State Government and the National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt) with the support of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
This facility will have four rooms that will present the history of the impact in Chicxulub, from the origin of the meteorite to the geological and environmental consequences that it caused. It will also have a room in which part of the nuclei (sample of rocks) extracted by Pemex in the area will be exhibited.
“Yucatan will spearhead in the country in terms of geosciences, we will have the museum, the national library (collection of geological samples and fluids of scientific value), which is a large project of almost 500 million pesos,” said Joaquín Alcocer, in charge of the project.
In addition, the National School of Higher Education (ENES) of the UNAM in Mérida has a degree in Earth, which is related to geological sciences and strengthens the study of this area.
Alcocer commented that the museum will have an exhibition space of one thousand square meters and was designed by architect Fernando D’Acosta, who was inspired by the collision of the aerolith with the Yucatecan coasts.
“The Museum is not only the building and the exhibition. A whole series of science outreach events are being planned, which include astronomical observations, scholar visits and science workshops for children and teenagers, “he added.
TYT Newsroom with information from elfinanciero.com.mx
