(ORDO NEWS) — The most famous impact of the Earth with a meteorite is the Chicxulub crater, which destroyed the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago.
But there have been other similar cases, including in South Africa. The Vredefort crater is the largest confirmed impact crater on Earth.
Vredefort was formed during a meteorite impact with the Earth about 2 billion years ago during the Paleoproterozoic era and is now located in South Africa.
According to previous studies, the diameter of the meteorite ranged from 10 to 15 km, and the diameter of the crater, at the time of formation, was about 160-300 km.
However, over two billion years, erosion has reduced its size, making it difficult to accurately assess the nature of the meteorite, the size of the crater, and the consequences of the impact.
However, a new study concludes that the size and speed of the impact of the meteorite that formed the Vredefort crater were different than previously thought.
The authors of the study argue that it was larger, hit the Earth at a faster rate, and had devastating and far-reaching effects.
The researchers ran simulations using the impact physics simulation tool. They argue that the Vredefort shock wave was actually caused by either a 25 km diameter body moving at 15 km/s or a 20 km diameter body moving at 20 km/s.
The revised results mean that the impact outnumbered the collision that caused the dinosaurs to die. However, he did not leave behind any traces of mass extinction and did not cover the globe with a layer of ash.
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