An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A crater about 70 km in diameter in Western Australia, considered to be the oldest recognized → meteorite impact structure on Earth. A precise age of 2 229 ± 5 million years is derived from shocked zircon and monazite crystals in the rocks. The age coincides, within uncertainty, with temporal constraint for the youngest Palaeoproterozoic glacial deposits. Numerical impact simulations indicate that a 70 km size crater created by the impact in a continental glacier could release between 8.7 × 10¹³ to 5.0 × 10¹⁵ kg of H₂O vapor instantaneously into the atmosphere. These results provide new estimates of impact-produced H₂O vapor abundances for models investigating termination of the Paleoproterozoic glaciations, and highlight the possible role of impact cratering in modifying Earth’s → climate (Erikson, T.M. et al., 2020, Nature communications, 21 January).

See also: The Yarrabubba structure is located on the Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia (lat. 27° 11’S, long. 118° 50’E), approximately 100 km southeast of the township of Meekatharra; → crater.