dated from june
A 3,300-foot- (1 km) wide asteroid struck our planet 1.2 billion years ago, according to new research published in the Journal of the Geological Society.
In 2008, a team of researchers from the Universities of Oxford and Aberdeen found evidence for the ancient meteorite strike near Ullapool, Scotland.
The thickness and extent of the debris deposit the scientists found suggested the impact crater was close to the coast, but its precise location remained a mystery.
Now University of Oxford’s Dr. Ken Amor and colleagues have identified the crater location 9.3-12.3 miles (15-20 km) west of a remote part of the Scottish coastline.
“The material excavated during a giant meteorite impact is rarely preserved on Earth, because it is rapidly eroded, so this is a really exciting discovery,” Dr. Amor said.
“It was purely by chance this one landed in an ancient rift valley where fresh sediment quickly covered the debris to preserve it.”
www.sci-news.com/geology/impact-c…07271.html