Found a giant meteorite 500 million years ago

Aerial and underground survey results helped US experts determine the existence of an ancient impact crater beneath a town in the state of Iowa (USA).

According to a report in Earth Magazine, the results of geophysical and hydrographic surveys identified a collision crater about 5.5 km across - nearly 5 times the size of Barringer crater in Arizona (USA).

'We now have three distinct and confirmed data groups about the presence and geometry of a collision hole,' says Andy Kass, a geophysicist at the US Geological Survey. in Denver.

Giant impact crater beneath the town of Decorah - (Photo: American Geological Survey)

The existence of the impact crater was first reported in 2008 when geologists studied the cut in wells near the town of Decorah, northeastern Iowa, and suddenly discovered evidence of sediment. Shale has never been known before.

If you look at the surface, Decorah is a beautiful town and nothing shows that it is lying on a collision hole.

Based on the size of the impact crater, scientists estimated it to be a remnant when a 228m-diameter asteroid crashed into the area about 500 million years ago.

Statistically, similarly sized asteroids are calculated to cycle to the Earth's surface in a period of 30,000 to 60,000 years.