Published 14:52 IST, September 4th 2020
100 million-year-old meteorite crater found in Western Australia
Approximately 100 million-year-old meteorite crater has been discovered in Western Australia. This was found while a local mining company was drilling for gold.
An approximately 100 million-year-old meteorite crater has been discovered in Western Australia. This was found while a local mining company was drilling for gold. This million years old meteorite crater has a diameter of about 5 km.
100 million-year-old meteorite crater
The meteorite crater was found using electromagnetic surveys. Its exact location is near the Goldfields mining town, Ora Banda, north-west side of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. The size of the crater is predicted to be 5 times bigger than the very popular Wolfe Creek crater in the Kimberly. This newly discovered meteorite crater in Western Australia is one of the largest of its kind in the world.
The geologist and geophysicist, Dr Jayson Meyers, said that the find was important and unexpected. He added, "This discovery was made in an area where the landscape is very flat. You wouldn’t know it was there because the crater has been filled in over geological time." In a statement, Meyers said that this crater discovery will result in more significant discoveries.
According to Dr Jayson Meyers, there are quite a few more craters out there. He says that the earth has been hit by more no. of asteroids than one can think of. If scientists will start to identify more of these, the landscape will begin to change and questions like what's the frequency and why are they happening. Studying such discoveries relating to geological histories will help experts tp predict the next event that will happen or the next asteroid which will hit the earn can be seen.
Earlier this year, scientists discovered the world’s oldest meteorite crater in Western Australia’s mid-west. The crater was called Yarrabubba crater which is believed to be 2.23 billion years old.
Updated 14:52 IST, September 4th 2020