Study claims 3-billion-year-old Australian crater is Earth's oldest impact structure, but age disputed
By
James Woodford
Summary
A study claims that the North Pole Dome crater (Miralga impact structure) in Western Australia was created by an asteroid strike 3 billion years ago, which would make it the oldest known impact crater on Earth. The crater, first described by Chris Kirkland and his team at Curtin University in 2025, could be up to 100 km wide. The team used mineral-dating techniques on rock layers containing shatter cones to estimate the age. However, other researchers have disputed the proposed age, creating scientific debate around the finding.
Source
Twitter / XStudy claims 3-billion-year-old Australian crater is Earth's oldest impact structure, but age disputednewscientist.comKey quotes
· 3 pulledThe North Pole Dome crater, also known as the Miralga impact structure, was first described by Chris Kirkland at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, and his colleagues in 2025.
They estimated that it could be up to 100 kilometres wide.
Kirkland and his team found a layer of rock containing cone-shaped features called shatter c
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