Researchers have recognized Yarrabubba crater, which extends for more than 40 miles across Western Australia, as the oldest impact structure on Earth. New research puts a precise age on the cataclysmic impact, showing Yarrabubba is the oldest known crater and dating it at the right time to trigger the end of an ancient glacial period and the warming of the whole planet. Researchers examined small “impact-shocked” crystals recovered at the site, which confirm the crater formed 2.229 billion years ago. Although the Yarrabubba structure depicts Earth’s oldest dated impact crater, its accordance with melting glaciers “implies further consideration of the ability of meteorite impacts to trigger climate variation.
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