The affects of a meteorite’s impact should not be underestimated. The discovery of the world’s oldest known crater caused by a meteorite could change how we think about the origins of life on Earth as well as how the planet was shaped.
A team of Curtin University researchers found the crater while investigating rock layers in the North Pole Dome in western Australia. There they found signs that a major meteorite impact affected the area 3.5 billion years ago, the team reported in the journal Nature Communications.
The discovery, which is over a billion years older than the previously known similarly created crater, could challenge previous assumptions about our planet’s ancient history.
“This is by far the oldest known crater ever found on Earth,” Tim Johnson, a member of the Curtin team and an author of the study, said in a press release.
A Massive Meteorite
What gave them a clue that a meteorite had struck the area? They found distinctive rock formations there called shatter cones, which only form from the intense impact of a meteorite strike.
They identified those features about 25 miles west of Marble Bar in the Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The scientists estimated that the meteorite must have slammed into the site at more than 22,000 miles per hour. The impact would have created a crater over 60 miles wide and almost certainly sent debris flying into the air.
Read More: Found: Crater From Asteroid Impact That Covered 10% of Earth's Surface in Debris
Origins of Earth
That massive impact could have played a role in jump-starting life. Impact craters can create microbe-friendly environments like hot-water pools. It may even have played a role in pushing around parts of the Earth’s crust. That could have played an early role in creating continents, and perhaps reshaping land by releasing magma to the surface.
“We know large impacts were common in the early solar system from looking at the Moon,” Johnson said. “Until now, the absence of any truly ancient craters means they are largely ignored by geologists. This study provides a crucial piece of the puzzle of Earth's impact history and suggests there may be many other ancient craters that could be discovered over time.”
In this case, the word “impact” can take on multiple meanings.
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
Nature Communications. A Paleoarchaean impact crater in the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia
Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.
