Sixty - six million years ago , a behemoth asteroidslammed into Earthnear what is now Mexico ’s Yucatan Peninsula . The collision created the famous Chicxulub crater , and probably killed off the dinosaur and most of Earth ’s sprightliness forms . However , researchers now say they ’ve uncover strong-arm evidence of an even with child space rock-and-roll that clash with early Earth 3.5 billion yr ago , Live Science report . Their inquiry will be put out in the journalPrecambrian Researchthis July .
The asteroid is the 2d oldest known to hit the Earth , and one of the largest , scientists say . It ’s estimate to have been about 12 to 19 land mile across — meaning it probably dwarfed the previous one that crashed into present - day Yucatan . Its impact probably devastated the major planet .
" The impact would have triggered earthquake orders of order of magnitude cracking than telluric earthquake ; it would have caused huge tsunamis and would have made cliffs crumble , " study co - author Andrew Glikson , a planetary scientist at the Australian National University , say in a instruction .
Nobody be intimate quite where the asteroid struck , as any craters would have disappeared due to volcanic activity and tectonic apparent motion . However , Glikson and his colleague , Arthur Hickman , were capable to find remains of the asteroid by examining sea flooring sediment date stamp back to roughly 3.5 billion years ago . The deposit were taken from sample distribution drilled from an ancient rock organisation in northwestern Australia called the Marble Bar . Preserved between layers of volcanic rock , it ’s think to be some of the old sediment in the world .
When the giant asteroid hit the Earth , the impact vaporized its rock . Little round glass particles call spherules were scatter across the globe . Glikson tested the beads he found in the essence sample and discovered they contained the horizontal surface of elements like platinum , nickel , and chromium that are found in asteroids . Hetold CNNthat he was able to forecast the asteroid ’s potential size by analyzing the size of the spherule .
While this peculiar asteroid would have play havoc on former Earth , Glikson pronounce it ’s likely one of many to have come to the planet in its early childhood .
" This is just the tip of the iceberg , " Glikson enounce in a release . " We ’ve only found grounds for 17 impacts older than 2.5 billion twelvemonth , but there could have been hundreds . Asteroid strikes this big result in major tectonic shift and encompassing magma flow . They could have importantly touch on the manner the Earth evolved . "
[ h / tLive Science ]
