Curiosmos
  • Home
  • Unsolved Mysteries
  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Cosmic Phenomena
  • Alien Theories
  • Curious Lists
No Result
View All Result
Like us on Facebook
Curiosmos
  • Home
  • Unsolved Mysteries
  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Cosmic Phenomena
  • Alien Theories
  • Curious Lists
No Result
View All Result
Curiosmos
No Result
View All Result

At 2.2 Billion Years Old, This is the Oldest Impact Crater on Earth

Ivan PetricevicbyIvan Petricevic
January 24, 2020 - Updated on October 15, 2022
in Editor's Picks
An artists rendering of an impact crater covered in ice. Shutterstock.

Shutterstock.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

About 2.2 billion years ago, a massive space rock collided against our planet, leaving a gigantic scar.

Around 200 million years older than any other site on the planet’s surface, the so-called Yarrabubba impact structure is located in Australia.

Although the impact site is the oldest found to date, finding it was not easy.

Due to tectonic activity and erosion, our planet’s surface is continually changing, making it very difficult to date ancient impact craters.

Related Posts

Stairway to Heaven at Tianmen Mountain is China’s most mystical climb

Stairway to Heaven at Tianmen Mountain is China’s most mystical climb

January 28, 2019 - Updated on April 17, 2025
The layers of Saturn's moon Titan. Credit: NASA

5 Reasons Why Titan Is the Most Intriguing Moon in the Solar System

February 25, 2025

This is precisely the case with the 70 km-wide Yarrabubba crater in Western Australia, which lacked an exact age but was nonetheless considered one of the oldest on our planet.

In a study published on January 21 in Nature Communications, the researchers revealed studying the massive impact site. Although not much of it is visible today, what lies inside it holds invaluable information about the crater and its age. At the center of the impact, the crater is a small, red hill dubbed Barlangi Hill.

“[Barlangi Hill] has been interpreted as an impact-generated melt rock,” the researchers wrote in the study.

The researchers analyzed minerals crystallized by the impact. To obtain the exact age, they performed an isotopic analysis to understand the chemical reactions of the zircon and monazite minerals.

The impact crater

A view of the Yarrabubba impact crater: Image Credit: The Conversation.
A view of the Yarrabubba impact crater: Image Credit: The Conversation.

Consequently, using a uranium-lead dating technique, the scientists discovered that the Yarrabubba impact crater is 200 million years older than the next oldest recognized impact crater, the Vredefort crater in South Africa.

If the impact crater’s dating is accurate, it means that the collision of the massive space rocks coincided with the end of a prehistoric ice age when most of our planet was frozen.

The researchers created many models that allowed them to study the possible effects of a massive asteroid impact, the potential effects on an ice sheet, and how it would modify the planet’s climate.

If an asteroid impacted a continent’s ice sheet, it likely kicked up massive amounts of rock, ash, and dust, similar to a volcanic eruption.

Computer simulations have shown an impact like that would have spread between 87 trillion and 5,000 trillion kilograms of water vapor into the planet’s atmosphere. This most likely caused the ice sheet to melt since water is an efficient greenhouse gas.

“If the impact occurred into an ice sheet then it would release lots of water vapor, which is an even more efficient greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide,” lead study author Timmons Erickson, of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, explained in an interview with the AFP.

“That, in turn, may result in warming of the planet.”

However, the above is just one possible scenario, and the exact conditions are still heatedly debated.

Whatever the case, impact craters like Yarrabubba are of great importance to scientists, offering valuable data and insight into what our planet looked like billions of years ago.


Join the discussion and participate in awesome giveaways in our mobile Telegram group. Join Curiosmos on Telegram Today. t.me/Curiosmos

Share7337Tweet98Share27ShareSend
Ivan Petricevic

Ivan Petricevic

I've been writing passionately about ancient civilizations, history, alien life, and various other subjects for more than eight years. You may have seen me appear on Discovery Channel's What On Earth series, History Channel's Ancient Aliens, and Gaia's Ancient Civilizations among others.

Related Posts

What a Trillion Stars Look Like: Here’s The Sharpest View of the Andromeda Galaxy
Editor's Picks

What a Trillion Stars Look Like: Here’s The Sharpest View of the Andromeda Galaxy

April 19, 2019 - Updated on May 2, 2023
Cathedral Saint Aleksandar Nevski in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Editor's Picks

10 Mysterious and Historical Places to Visit in Bulgaria

September 4, 2020 - Updated on January 21, 2024
Researchers analyze a long-standing ice patch on the Beartooth Plateau, located within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Photo credit: Joe McConnell / Desert Research Institute.
Editor's Picks

A Lost Forest Hidden Beneath Ice for 6,000 Years Is Changing What We Know About Earth’s Climate

January 14, 2025
A sonar image. Image Credit: MAYOBS - CNRS/IPGP/IFREMER/BRGM.
Editor's Picks

Our Planet Rang Like a Bell For 20 Minutes, and Scientists Now Know Why

May 24, 2019 - Updated on May 2, 2023
Artist's impression of the Giant Magellan Telescope when complete. Credit: Giant Magellan Telescope – GMTO Corporation
Editor's Picks

Using Gigantic Mirrors, Astronomers Want to Observe the Edge of the Cosmos—10 Reasons Why This is Huge News

May 13, 2021 - Updated on January 21, 2024
All ancient ruins are spectacular but the Mayan structures are absolutely enigmatic. Here are 10 ancient Mayan sites in the Yucatan Peninsula. Credit: Shutterstock
Editor's Picks

10 Mind-Boggling Ancient Sites You Should Visit in the Yucatan Peninsula

October 22, 2020 - Updated on January 21, 2024
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Fair Use Notice
  • DMCA / Removal
  • Impressum
  • Contact
  • Fact-Checking Policy
  • Ethics Policy
  • Ownership and Funding Information
  • Impressum
CURIOSMOS.COM

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Unsolved Mysteries
  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Cosmic Phenomena
  • Alien Theories
  • Curious Lists