When Martin brought South Pacific to London's West End, Hagman was in the chorus.

BBC: Obituary: Larry Hagman

He has already helped to track down a more recent, smaller impact (a mere 2.15m years ago, and involving an object somewhere between one and four kilometres across) to another part of the Pacific ocean, south-west of Chile.

ECONOMIST: Paleoforensic science

An estimated 3, 100 large vessels thread between the islands each year on their way west, and a similar number travel the eastward route across the North Pacific just south of the Aleutians.

ECONOMIST: Shipwrecks in the Aleutians

It is believed that they are pushing west because they want to open a corridor to a major Pacific port, such as Manzanillo, just south of Guadalajara.

NEWYORKER: The Kingpins