Named the asteroid, razmorozili the Earth 2.2 billion years ago

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He helped end the longest ice age in Earth’s history.

On the ochre plains in the Central part of Western Australia’s hidden an ancient scar from the asteroid impact, which may explain how ended one of the longest ice ages on Earth with the subsequent “unfreezing” of life, reports the Chronicle.info with reference for Today.

Crater Yarrabubba a width of 70 km was formed in the fall of a huge asteroid about 2.2 billion years ago. Its impact could radically change Earth’s climate. The result of the powerful collision, the global temperature could rise so much that would have melted ice. Thus emitted into the atmosphere as dust and water vapor have increased the greenhouse effect.

A group of researchers from the University of Certina in Western Australia and the Space center of a name of Johnson of NASA, took up the study of the crater. To determine the exact age of the rocks in the region method was used the radioisotope uranium-lead Dating is one of the most accurate in science. The crystals inside the rocks were molten and then re-crystallized after hitting the asteroids, that allows to determine the time of the disaster.

“We analyzed these individual small crystals of zircon at the crash site of the ancient asteroid. These crystals formed during the event of impact,” explains Chris Kirkland, a scientist-a geologist from the University kertina and co-author of the study.

The analysis showed that the age of the crater is Yarrabubba 2,229 billion years, making it the oldest impact structure on Earth. Moreover the formation of the impact crater from the asteroid coincides with the dynamic changes on Earth – ending the longest ice age. This horrible period called “Earth-snowball” – the entire planet was a desert of ice for 300 million years. During this the glacial period the temperature at the equator was approximately as in Antarctica.

Researchers with the aid of simulated computer simulations, taking the asteroid with a diameter of 7 kilometers and punched him into the Ground. The resulting crater was about the same size as Yarrabubba. Analysis of the subsequent events showed that such exposure could lead to emissions of about 500 million tons of water vapor. Thus “reopening” of the earth after the asteroid strike helped life evolve.

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