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Scientists have found the oldest impact crater on Earth – and it changes our understanding of our planet and the origins of life.
The meteorite that left the crater fell to Earth 3.5 billion years ago. The previous oldest known crater was 2.2 billion years old.
It suggests that the world was previously hit by huge impacts that we may not know about, and the craters left behind might have been the place that life on Earth began.
The scientists involved were able to identify it through the “shatter cones” that are left behind by the intense pressure of a strike by a meteorite.
“We know large impacts were common in the early solar system from looking at the Moon,” Tim Johnson, from Curtin University.
“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.”
The findings might not only help us discover the environments in which early life thrived, but also the continents that it thrives on today, said Chris Kirkland, another professor from Curtin.
“Uncovering this impact and finding more from the same time period could explain a lot about how life may have got started, as impact craters created environments friendly to microbial life such as hot water pools,” Professor Kirkland said.
“It also radically refines our understanding of crust formation: the tremendous amount of energy from this impact could have played a role in shaping early Earth’s crust 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.
“It may have even contributed to the formation of cratons, which are large, stable landmasses that became the foundation of continents.”
A study describing the findings, ‘A Paleoarchaean impact crater in the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia’, is published today in the journal Nature Communications.