Meteorite Impact 2 Billion Years Ago May Have Ended an Ice Age

The Australian crater Yarrabubba is the oldest known on Earth, according to new measurements, and it might be linked to the end of a “Snowball Earth” ice age.

By Erika K. Carlson
Jan 21, 2020 6:00 AMJan 21, 2020 9:56 PM
meteorite impact
A powerful, ancient impact created Yarrabubba crater in Western Australia, and new research found the strike occurred some 2.2 billion years ago, making the crater the oldest known on Earth. (Credit: James Thew/iStock/Thinkstock)

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Yarrabubba crater in Western Australia stretches roughly 40 miles across. And since its discovery in 2003, scientists have speculated it's one of Earth’s oldest meteorite craters. Now, a team of researchers has pinned down the crater's precise age, revealing it’s about 2.23 billion years old. This officially makes Yarrabubba the oldest known crater on Earth, surpassing the age of Vredefort crater by about 200 million years.

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