Earth May Have Had Rings 466 Million Years Ago
New research suggests an ancient ring system could explain unusual meteorite impacts and climate changes during the Ordovician period.
Overview
- A team of researchers proposes that Earth had a ring system formed from a near-miss with a large asteroid around 466 million years ago.
- This hypothesis is based on the unusual distribution of 21 impact craters located within 30 degrees of the equator.
- The debris from the asteroid, once within Earth's Roche limit, likely formed a ring that gradually fell to Earth, causing the observed spike in meteorite impacts.
- Layers in sedimentary rocks from this period contain significant amounts of meteorite debris, supporting the ring system theory.
- The potential shadow cast by this ring may have contributed to the Hirnantian Icehouse, a major global cooling event linked to a mass extinction.