2023-09-20 06:00:03
A depression almost a kilometer wide on a mountain peak in China: it is not simple erosion, but the result of a meteorite impact that occurred several million years ago. Chinese scientists discovered that Baijifeng Mountain was hit by a objet cosmic, which gave rise to its two distinct peaks and unique impact structure.
Crédit image: Centre for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research
The newly discovered crater is located in the northeast of China, near the border with Korea Nord. This is the first confirmed impact crater on a mountain peak on Terre. The researchers, led by Ming Chen and Ho-Kwang Mao of the Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research at Shanghaiare not yet certain of the date of this impact.
The mountain is dotted with fragments of rock known locally as “heavenly stone”. A recent study confirmed that this name is scientifically accurate. The rocks on the peaks show patterns of choc typical of an impact with a space object.
The researchers were particularly interested in the shape of the depression between the mountain’s two peaks, which extends regarding 1,400 meters. They also noted the scattering of large sandstone fragments on the mountain. Samples of sandstone and granite were collected and examined. The quartz minerals found in these rocks deform in a particular way when subjected to large amounts of heat and of pressionwhich was confirmed by the team.
The granite that makes up the crater was formed between 150 and 172 million years ago. This means that the impact must have occurred following this period, but the exact timing remains unknown. The researchers also compared the erosion patterns of this crater to those of Yilan Crater in China, suggesting that their ages might be similar. Yilan Crater, 49,000 years old, is the largest impact crater less than 100,000 years old known to date.
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