Ancient Impact Crater Discovered in Australia Shatters World Record for Oldest Known Crater by Over a Billion Years
In a groundbreaking discovery, a research group led by Dr. Andrew Glikson has uncovered the world's oldest impact crater in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The crater, approximately 40 kilometers west of Marble Bar, is estimated to be around 3.5 billion years old.
The discovery of this ancient crater offers a fascinating glimpse into Earth's early history. The impact occurred at a staggering speed of over 36,000 kilometers per hour, and its effects may have significantly shaped the early Earth's crust.
The distinctive rocks that helped identify the crater are called shatter cones, which only form in the extreme environment caused by a meteorite impact. The presence of these cones provides "unequivocal evidence" of a very high-speed meteorite impact.
The age of the Pilbara impact crater is statistically indistinguishable from old rock beds in South Africa, making it the oldest known impact crater on Earth. The previous record-holder for the oldest impact crater was 2.2 billion years old.
The Pilbara crater is not alone in Western Australia. The now second-oldest-known crater is at Yarrabubba. The discovery of more impact craters from the same time period could explain a lot about how life may have got started on Earth.
Prior evidence from the Pilbara suggested that plate tectonics may have already been active on Earth between 3 to 4 billion years ago. The impact could have played a role in this process by pushing one part of the Earth's crust under another or by forcing magma to rise from deep within the Earth's mantle toward the surface.
Stromatolites, the oldest evidence for life in the area of the meteorite impact, are nearly 3.5 billion years old. These fossilized structures offer an indication of what fossilized signs of life on Mars could look like.
The research group's findings have been published in the journal Nature Communications, shedding new light on Earth's early history and the potential for life beyond our planet.
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