Ancient Meteor Strike Triggered Eruptions Lasting Up to a Million Years

[Judi Lynn]

By Charles Q. Choi, Live Science Contributor | May 5, 2017 07:08am ET


A giant meteor impact on Earth nearly 2 billion years ago triggered more explosive and long-lived volcanic eruptions than previously thought, a new study finds.

This finding sheds light on how meteor bombardment may have dramatically shaped the evolution of the early Earth, researchers in the new study said.

Meteor strikes have left giant craters all over Earth. For instance, the cosmic impact that scientists think ended the age of dinosaurs about 66 million years ago left behind a crater more than 110 miles (180 kilometers) wide near the town of Chicxulub (CHEEK-sheh-loob) in Mexico. [In Photos: The Impact Craters of North America]

Gargantuan craters are seen pockmarking the rest of the solar system as well. Recent studies of such impact craters on the moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars suggested that meteor strikes could trigger volcanic activity.

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[hedda_foil]

1. Wow! Thanks for posting.

[MFM008]

2. All i can say

If it happens again, land on the maggot in chief. Ill feel better about going....

[Warpy]

3. That debate has been going on for some time

especially around the formation of the Siberian Traps ~250 million years ago and now blamed for the Permian mass extinction.

[Javaman]

4. That why I voted for...

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