The discovery significantly challenges previous assumptions about the ancient history of the planet. So far, the oldest known impact crater was 2.2 billion years old. The one now found is 3.5 billion years old.
Researchers at Curtin University in Australia have discovered the older meteorite impact crater in the world, which can significantly redefine the understanding of the origins of life and how planet Earth has formed.
The team of the Earth and Planetary Sciences School of Curtin investigated rock layers in the Dome of the North Polo, An area in the Pilbara, West Australia, and found evidence of a major impact of a meteorite for 3.5 billion years agohaving published the results in.
Professor Tim Johnson of Curtin University and co -author of the study said that the discovery significantly challenged the previous assumptions about the ancient history of the planet.
“Before our discovery, the oldest known impact crater was 2.2 billion years old, which makes it from far the oldest crater ever found on Earth,” he said in a statement quoted on Thursday by Europa Press agency.
Us inN -plasters discovered the crater thanks to the “shatter cones”, rock formations that only formed under the intense pressure of the impact of a meteorite.
Os Fragmentation cones at the site, about 40 kilometers west of Marble Bar, in the Western Australia, were formed when a meteorite fell in the area over 36,000 km/h over 36,000 km/h. This was a great planetary event, creating a crater with over 100 kilometers wide that will have scattered debris across the globe.
“We know that the big impacts were common at the beginning of the solar system watching the moon,” said Professor Johnson.
“So far, the absence of truly ancient craters means that they are widely ignored by geologists. This study provides a crucial part of the Earth’s impact history and suggests that there may be many other ancient craters that can be discovered over time,” he added.
The main co -author, Professor Chris Kirkland, also from Curtin’s Earth and Planetary Sciences School, said the discovery shed a new light on how meteorites shaped the Earth’s initial environment.
“The discovery of this impact and the discovery of others in the same period of time can explain a lot about how life may have begun, as impact craters have created environments in favor of microbial life, such as warm water puddles,” he said.
“Também refina radicalmente a nossa compreensão da formação da crosta: a enorme quantidade de energia deste impacto pode ter desempenhado um papel na formação da crosta terrestre primitiva, empurrando uma parte da crosta terrestre para baixo de outra, ou forçando o magma a subir das profundezas do manto terrestre para a superfície. Pode até ter contribuído para a formação dos crátons, que são grandes massas de terra estáveis que se tornaram a base dos continentes”, concluiu.
