Aussie scientists discovered evidence of the Earth’s oldest known asteroid impact, which has an age of a whopping 3.47 billion years. The discovery shatters the former record of a 2.2 billion-year-old crater.
The ancient crater, buried in the heart of Australia’s outback, was discovered by researchers from Curtin University. According to their research, published in Nature Communications journal, a gigantic space rock slammed into Earth during the planet’s early years and resculpted the earth’s surface.
Research team member Professor Tim Johnson explained it this way, Before this, the oldest known asteroid crater was 2.2 billion years old. This new discovery is now officially the oldest ever found on Earth.
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Evidence of the crater remained concealed in rock and dirt, making it hard to pinpoint. Scientists utilized advanced instruments to scan teeny minerals and crevices within rocks and revealed hints of violent heat and stress—markers for a massive asteroid impact.
This groundbreaking find helps experts to have a better idea about Earth’s stormy past and how such cosmic collisions could have influenced the climate as well as early life on Earth.