Massive Impact Crater Caused by One-Kilometer-Wide Meteorite

The 12-billion-tonne meteor impacted the Earth's surface with the power of 47 million Hiroshima bombs.

A team of scientists has recently discovered a giant impact crater, larger than the surface of  Paris, which had remained hidden under a thick layer of ice in northern Greenland, and was formed by the impact of an iron meteorite.

This iron meteorite is believed to be responsible for causing the mysterious, 1,000-year period known as Younger Dryas. The Younger Dryas (c. 12,900 to c. 11,700 years BP) was a return to glacial conditions that temporarily reversed the gradual climatic warming after the Last Glacial Maximum started receding around 20,000 BP.

Its diameter of more than 31 kilometers places it among the 25 largest impact craters on Earth, according to the findings of an international team of researchers from Denmark, Germany, and the United States.

The study detailing the discovery was published in the journal Science Advances. Read the free article.