Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Oldest Impact Crater Discovered

Unlike the airless bodies in the Solar System, The Earth as a general example shows evidence of the massive and violent bombardment several billion years ago. Finding any evidence of ancient bombardment is more a scientific version of poke and hope. Continental drift plus the effects of rain, wind, plus the effects of the seasonal weather erase many of the structures that identify an impact crater.
From the article:

  • Now, an international team of scientists say they have found a massive impact crater in Greenland a billion years older than other known asteroid impact on Earth.


The crater is located in the Maniitsoq region of West Greenland and is roughly one billion years older that the next oldest crater. What is truly amazing though is the huge diameter of the Greenland impact which measures a stunning 62 miles across!

Craters of the age of the Greenland impact have been all but obliterated, however the crust around Greenland:

  • has been eroded over the eons to expose crust that originally was 16 miles below the surface. Effects of the immense shock-wave produced on impact penetrated deep into the crust and remain visible.
read the complete article here



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