An asteroid struck somewhere north of Australia 11 million years ago, scattering molten glass across a 900-kilometre ellipse in South Australia — yet scientists still cannot find the crater it left be
Scientists have identified a new field of impact glass in South Australia, suggesting an asteroid struck the region 11 million years ago. While the debris field has been mapped, the specific impact crater remains undiscovered.
Why it matters
This discovery challenges current understanding of geological history and demonstrates how scientists can reconstruct ancient planetary events through chemical analysis of debris.
The glass is small enough to sit in a museum drawer, but the event it points to was not small.
By Space Daily Editorial Team · Editorial process
The glass is small enough to sit in a museum drawer, but the event it points to was not small. A set of unusual Australian tektites, now called ananguites, appears to record an asteroid impact about 11 million years ago. The molten debris landed far to the south, across a long elliptical field in South Australia. The crater that made it has not been found.
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