Scientists Unearth Mysterious Meteorite Crater in China
Thousands of years ago, a space rock hit what is now China, leaving a bowl-shaped crater some 900 meters wide
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Scientists have discovered a massive asteroid impact crater in China. The bowl-shaped depression is some 900 meters wide—more than eight times the length of a football field.
In a paper published last month, the researchers behind the discovery said the structure, named the Jinlin crater, was likely formed by a meteorite hit during the early to mid-Holocene, a geological epoch that started just 12,000 years ago. The findings were published online on October 15 in the journal Matter and Radiation at Extremes.
The analysis is intriguing, but several experts cautioned that more research is needed to confirm that time line.
“The Holocene age estimate is only inferred and not measured, so the age is very uncertain,” says Mark Boslough, a research professor at the University of New Mexico, who was not involved in the study.
A panoramic aerial drone image of the Jinlin crater with the approximate location of the crater rim labeled, with an insert of the crater floor, which shows a mix of granite weathered soil and granite fragments.
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