To be where it is today, Earth has gone through many events …
Earth has been 4 billion years old since its birth in the universe. In the long history of the Earth, the stars, planets, satellites, asteroids in the universe along with the Earth have all had a fixed or uncertain mode of action. The formation of the Solar System, the Moon, asteroids crashing into the Earth, comets … prove that claim.
As the development of human civilization took shape on Earth, we began to explore the mysteries of the universe and our own planet.
Humans have discovered countless impact craters on Earth formed by the “falling stars” that once crashed into the Earth. These “falling stars” are then referred to as “meteorites / asteroids”, and the traces they leave on Earth are known as “meteorite craters” or impact craters.
It can be said that the crater is a symbol and evidence of the intersection of cosmic objects and the Earth. Not only that, some scientists who support the “exogenous” theory even believe that the water and energy necessary for life on Earth today are due to the impact of meteorites and comets.
Although this is not supported by strong evidence, the craters are still very valuable to scientists studying celestial celestial bodies. It is of great significance for the study of the formation and evolution of the Earth, the change in climate, the environment and animals in ancient times, the role of biological processes and mineralization.
Today, many meteorite holes have been discovered, through studying them, people have discovered many unknown secrets from ancient times as well as unique minerals created when Huge asteroid collided with the Earth.
THE LARGEST THIEN THIEN THE PLANET
According to the report of the Earth Impact Database released in 2016, worldwide there are about 190 impact craters detected so far. And the planet’s largest, oldest and most severely eroded asteroid crater is Vredefort Crater in South Africa.
The Vredefort asteroid crater is a crater that has existed on Earth for 2 billion years – it is the result of a meteor’s shock impact with the Earth at speeds right between 40,000 and 250,000 km / h. The diameter of the Vredefort Crater exceeds 300 km, making it the largest and oldest meteorite crater in the world (second after the Yarrabubba crater in Australia (2,229 billion years old), NASA updates for 2020.
The Vredefort meteorite hole in South Africa.
This huge meteorite hole is located in the Free State province, South Africa. Because the crater is so large, local people do not realize it is the “legacy” from the “meeting” of the Earth and meteorites. However, its enormous size has attracted scientists and geologists from all over the world.
In 2005, the United Nations decided to include the Vredefort impact pit on the list of World Heritage Sites in need of protection.
LOOK AT THE PAST – FORWARD TO THE FUTURE
Talking about the crater / meteorite hole, many people do not know the Chicxulub (Yucatán peninsula in Mexico), 150 km in diameter, occurred about 65 million years ago.
Many scientists believe that perhaps the extinction of a generation of dinosaurs on Earth at that time was related to the climate change due to the impact of this meteorite.
Likewise, as the world’s largest crater, the formation of the Vredefort Crater should have had a serious impact on Earth’s climate and biological evolution. We just haven’t figured out exactly what it has affected and how it affects it.
Before that, the United Nations formed a scientific research group, based in South Africa, and conducted scientific research in the Vredefort crater for seven years. In the end it was asserted that the meteorite’s destructive power plunged into Vredefort enough to change the climate and the structure of the African plate. Scientists are continuing to study the long-term effects from Vredefort’s earlier.
What is different from Vredefort’s other meteorite craters in the world is that it has grown from what should have been abandoned into a city complete with hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, and generations of people have been in This huge crater is like a peaceful paradise.
Scientists said, meteorites that plunged into the Earth may leave large “scars” for Earth on the bottom of the deep sea. Because the asteroid craters we’ve found so far are all above ground.
Due to the very large and deep seabed area, scientists currently do not have enough technology to conduct detailed investigations. Therefore, the impact crater on the sea floor remains an unsolved mystery in the scientific world. If you want to research, you must go through a long process of discovery by scientists, and this will also be the direction that scientists need to strive for in the future.
Articles using source: QualityandCertification, Yqqlm
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