Silverpit Crater Confirmed as 43-46 Million-Year-Old Asteroid Impact Site Scientists from Heriot-Watt University have resolved a long-standing debate about the Silverpit Crater, a three-kilometer-wide structure located 700 meters beneath the southern North Sea, about 80 miles off Yorkshire's coast. Using advanced seismic imaging, microscopic analysis of rock samples, and computer modeling, the team confirmed that it formed 43 to 46 million years ago when a 160-meter-wide asteroid struck the seabed at a shallow angle from the west. Key evidence includes rare shocked quartz and feldspar crystals found in oil well samples at the crater's depth, which exhibit features only produced by extreme impact pressures. This discovery overturns earlier theories attributing the crater to salt movement or volcanic activity, as voted in a 2009 geologists' debate. The impact generated a 1.5-kilometer-high plume of rock and water that collapsed, producing a tsunami exceeding 100 meters (330 feet) high. Professor Gareth Collins of Imperial College London, who contributed simulations, called the shocked minerals the 'silver bullet' proving the impact origin. Silverpit joins around 33 known ocean impact craters, offering insights into planetary surface shaping and future collision risks. The study, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, was published in Nature Communications.

Silverpit Crater Confirmed as 43-46 Million-Year-Old Asteroid Impact Site

🤖 IA: It's clickbait ⚠️
👥 Usuarios: It's clickbait ⚠️

#silverpitcrater #asteroidimpact #northseatsunami

View full AI summary:

Illustration of a planet with blue water and pieces of an asteroid headed toward it.

Boom! Some 43 million years ago, an #asteroid streaked toward Earth, crashing into what is now the North Sea. Scientists from Heriot Watt University said on Saturday that an asteroid (or comet) created the much-debated #Silverpitcrater. 🌎🔭
buff.ly/TkaM8tT

📸 Javier Miranda/ Unsplash.