Discover the largest crater on Earth

Scientists believe that the Australian cracks are a trace of the largest crater ever created when meteorites hit Earth.

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Detecting craters created by meteorites 300 million years ago

Simulating a meteorite rushing to Earth.(Photo: NASA)

Experts discovered traces of the collision zone with a diameter of more than 400 km at a depth of 1.9 m, in the Warburton Basin, near the border of South Australia, Queensland and northern Australia. The collision is said to have occurred more than 300 million years ago.

Researcher Andrew Glikson of the Australian National University said that these structures could be from a large meteor that is double-cracked. Each celestial body splits more than 10 km across.

The impact crater has long disappeared, however traces of two cracks are found below the ground during deep drilling of geothermal exploration."Such great impacts can play an important role in the evolution of the Earth . " Telegraph yesterday quoted Glikson as saying.

The team is currently unable to identify a certain extinction marker associated with these collisions. Glikson says this is a mystery. Chicxulub is a meteorite-created crater buried beneath Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, related to the extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.