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4d ago

Scottish Meteorite Impact Re-Dated to 990 Million Years Ago

New analysis links the Stac Fada impact to early land-based freshwater ecosystems, reshaping our understanding of ancient life and Earth's geological history.

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A rugged landscape of Stac Fada rocks in northwest Scotland, where ancient meteorite impact evidence is preserved.
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Asteroid impact. Illustration of a large asteroid colliding with Earth on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. This impact is believed to have led to the death of the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago. The impact formed the Chicxulub crater, which is around 200 kilometres wide. The impact would have thrown trillions of tons of dust into the atmosphere, cooling the Earth's climate significantly, which may have been responsible for the mass extinction. A layer of iridium- rich rock, known as the K-Pg boundary, is thought to be the remnants of the impact debris.

Overview

  • Researchers have revised the age of the Stac Fada meteorite impact in northwestern Scotland from 1.2 billion to approximately 990 million years ago.
  • The updated dating was achieved through high-precision analysis of zircon and reidite crystals, which form under extreme pressures caused by meteorite strikes.
  • This new timeline aligns the impact with the emergence of early freshwater eukaryotes, raising questions about how such events influenced Earth's early ecosystems.
  • The Stac Fada Member, a geological unit of fragmented and melted rock, preserves evidence of the impact, although the crater itself remains undiscovered.
  • The findings, published in the journal *Geology*, provide insights into how meteorite strikes may have shaped environmental conditions and the evolution of life on land.