When an asteroid struck South Africa during the Precambrian, earthquakes rocked the region for millennia as Earth’s crust reequilibrated, new research reveals.
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Ejecta Discovered Near Site of Ancient Meteorite Impact
South Africa’s Vredefort impact structure is the largest on the planet, and researchers have now discovered the first proximal ejecta possibly deriving from the cataclysmic impact.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Moon’s Largest Crater Holds Clues About Early Lunar Mantle
An ancient impact splashed evidence of the Moon’s early mantle makeup onto its surface. Now researchers are piecing together models, maps, and samples to bring these mysteries to light.
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An Asteroid “Double Disaster” Struck Germany in the Miocene
By analyzing sediments jostled by ground shaking, researchers have shown that two impact craters near Stuttgart were created by independent asteroid impacts rather than a binary asteroid strike.
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Predicting the Unique Shape of Craters on Asteroid (16) Psyche
Models link the variety of crater shapes expected on (16) Psyche with the interior structure of this unique asteroid, in preparation for the arrival of the Psyche probe in 2026.
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Moon May Hold Billions of Tons of Subterranean Ice at Its Poles
By modeling over 4 billion years of the Moon’s impact history, scientists estimate that the lunar poles may harbor billions of metric tons of subsurface ice.
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Who Wants to Count All the Craters on Mars? Not Me!
Humans found hundreds of thousands of craters on Mars greater than 1 kilometer in diameter, but now computers automate the process delivering crater counts as well as geologically meaningful ages.
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Chicxulub Impact Crater Hosted a Long-Lived Hydrothermal System
Chemical and mineralogical evidence of fluid flow—potentially conducive to microscopic life—was revealed in rock cores extracted from the crater’s “peak ring.”
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Water Ice Lurks in Young—but Not Too Young—Lunar Craters
Using topographic data, researchers have estimated the ages of water ice–containing craters near the Moon’s poles and ruled out volcanism as being a primary route for water delivery.
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The Search for the Impact That Cratered Ancient Scotland
Great Britain’s largest impact crater likely lies in the Scottish Highlands. Scientists dispute whether it’s to the west or the east.