About 466 million years ago, Earth may have had rings formed by a giant asteroid impact. This theory, which turns our understanding of Earth’s history upside down, is based on new research. Scientists have found that all impact craters studied from this period are unusually close to the equator, even though most of the Earth’s crust lies far from this region.
Researchers from Monash University in Australia suspect that a giant asteroid once came so close to Earth that it collapsed due to strong tidal forces at the Roche Boundary. The debris formed a ring of rock and dust that has circled the Earth for millions of years. “Over millions of years, material from this ring has fallen to Earth, creating the many meteorite impacts we see in the rock layers today,” explains Professor Andrew Tomkins of Monash University.
The ring system and its climatic consequences
Such a ring system could not only have an impact on meteorite impact patterns, but also on Earth’s climate. Researchers believe the rings may have partially blocked sunlight, leading to global cooling. This period, known as the Hernanthian Ice Age, was one of the coldest in Earth’s history. “The presence of rings could provide an explanation for this extreme cold,” Tompkins adds.
unusual pattern of drilling
Normally, impacts on Earth, the Moon, or Mars are evenly distributed across the surface. But during the Ordovician, all 21 craters studied were near the equator, which the researchers described as unusual. Using geospatial data, they analyzed which parts of the Earth were geologically stable enough to have held craters at the time. Surprisingly, only a third of these areas were located in the equatorial region, prompting the researchers to rethink their theories.
A look into the past – and perhaps into the future?
The discovery of this potential ring system opens up new questions about Earth’s history: Could Earth also have had rings at other points in its past, influencing climate, geology and perhaps even the evolution of life? The Monash researchers believe this hypothesis represents an exciting basis for future research that could help us better understand the dynamic relationship between Earth and cosmic events.
Image: © Kevin M. Gill via Wikimedia under CC BY 2.0
Written by Anne Bagreca
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