Crystalline Clocks Confirm Earth's Oldest Crater
Two mineral clocks in shocked rocks dated the crater to 3.024 billion years ago, confirming the oldest known impact structure on Earth.
8 Articles
8 Articles
Crystalline Clocks Confirm Earth's Oldest Crater
A chip of zircon found in Western Australian rocks at a place called North Pole Dome revealed the age of Earth's oldest known impact crater. The team that found it was working on age-dating the crater, which is located in a region called the Pilbara Craton. They used mineral dating to pinpoint the exact time it was dug out by an impactor. Team lead Chris Kirkland from the Timescales of Minerals Systems Group within Curtin University's School of …
Discover Australia's Arctic Dome Crater: Earth's Oldest Known Archean Impact Structure
Zircon crystals and impact-altered minerals reveal that a colossal asteroid impacted Western Australia’s Pilbara region approximately 3 billion years ago. Arctic Dome Crater: (A) Simplified map of the Eastern Pilbara Terrain (EPT, Western Australia). Key geological features include Paleoarchean granite domes (pink) and greenstone belts (green and blue), with the North Pole Dome (NPD) at [...] The post Discover Australia’s Arctic Dome Crater: Ear…
Researchers at Curtin University in Australia have dated Earth's oldest known crater, located in the Pilbara Craton, at 3.024 billion years old. The discovery, which resolves a long-standing question about the timing of the impact, was published in a recent study. The crater, situated in the North Pole Dome region, was identified by cone-shaped fracture lines, visible evidence of a meteorite impact. The research team, led by Chris Kirkland, used…
Australia’s North Pole Dome Crater is Earth’s Oldest and Only Known Archean Impact Structure
Zircon crystals and impact-altered minerals show that a massive asteroid slammed into what is now the Pilbara region of Western Australia about 3 billion years ago. The post Australia’s North Pole Dome Crater is Earth’s Oldest and Only Known Archean Impact Structure appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
Earth’s oldest crater really is over 3 billion years old, new study confirms
Chris Kirkland, Curtin University In the Pilbara of Western Australia, some of Earth’s oldest rocks lie beneath the sky, as they have for billions of years. They are dark, weathered volcanic rocks, close to 3.5 billion years old, cut by veins and stewed by deep time. Their survival is remarkable. Most rocks this old have moved back into Earth’s interior. These ones, still on the surface, have changed, but not enough to erase their first story. I…
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