Precise radiometric age establishes Yarrabubba, Western Australia, as Earth’s oldest recognised meteorite impact structure
The ~70 km-diameter Yarrabubba impact structure in Western Australia is regarded as among Earth’s oldest, but has hitherto lacked precise age constraints. Here we present U–Pb ages for impact-driven shock-recrystallised accessory minerals. Shock-recrystallised monazite yields a precise impact age of...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE130100053 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90163 |
| _version_ | 1848765341989076992 |
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| author | Erickson, Timmons Kirkland, Chris Timms, Nick Cavosie, Aaron Davison, T.M. |
| author_facet | Erickson, Timmons Kirkland, Chris Timms, Nick Cavosie, Aaron Davison, T.M. |
| author_sort | Erickson, Timmons |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The ~70 km-diameter Yarrabubba impact structure in Western Australia is regarded as among Earth’s oldest, but has hitherto lacked precise age constraints. Here we present U–Pb ages for impact-driven shock-recrystallised accessory minerals. Shock-recrystallised monazite yields a precise impact age of 2229 ± 5 Ma, coeval with shock-reset zircon. This result establishes Yarrabubba as the oldest recognised meteorite impact structure on Earth, extending the terrestrial cratering record back >200 million years. The age of Yarrabubba coincides, within uncertainty, with temporal constraint for the youngest Palaeoproterozoic glacial deposits, the Rietfontein diamictite in South Africa. Numerical impact simulations indicate that a 70 km-diameter crater into a continental glacier could release between 8.7 × 1013 to 5.0 × 1015 kg of H2O vapour instantaneously into the atmosphere. These results provide new estimates of impact-produced H2O vapour abundances for models investigating termination of the Paleoproterozoic glaciations, and highlight the possible role of impact cratering in modifying Earth’s climate. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:33:43Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-90163 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:33:43Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-901632023-02-09T06:54:24Z Precise radiometric age establishes Yarrabubba, Western Australia, as Earth’s oldest recognised meteorite impact structure Erickson, Timmons Kirkland, Chris Timms, Nick Cavosie, Aaron Davison, T.M. Science & Technology Multidisciplinary Sciences Science & Technology - Other Topics PALEOPROTEROZOIC SNOWBALL EARTH LOW-LATITUDE GLACIATION LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCE SHOCKED ZIRCON VREDEFORT IMPACT GREAT OXIDATION MASS EXTINCTION ASTEROID IMPACT MONAZITE MELT The ~70 km-diameter Yarrabubba impact structure in Western Australia is regarded as among Earth’s oldest, but has hitherto lacked precise age constraints. Here we present U–Pb ages for impact-driven shock-recrystallised accessory minerals. Shock-recrystallised monazite yields a precise impact age of 2229 ± 5 Ma, coeval with shock-reset zircon. This result establishes Yarrabubba as the oldest recognised meteorite impact structure on Earth, extending the terrestrial cratering record back >200 million years. The age of Yarrabubba coincides, within uncertainty, with temporal constraint for the youngest Palaeoproterozoic glacial deposits, the Rietfontein diamictite in South Africa. Numerical impact simulations indicate that a 70 km-diameter crater into a continental glacier could release between 8.7 × 1013 to 5.0 × 1015 kg of H2O vapour instantaneously into the atmosphere. These results provide new estimates of impact-produced H2O vapour abundances for models investigating termination of the Paleoproterozoic glaciations, and highlight the possible role of impact cratering in modifying Earth’s climate. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90163 10.1038/s41467-019-13985-7 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE130100053 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Multidisciplinary Sciences Science & Technology - Other Topics PALEOPROTEROZOIC SNOWBALL EARTH LOW-LATITUDE GLACIATION LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCE SHOCKED ZIRCON VREDEFORT IMPACT GREAT OXIDATION MASS EXTINCTION ASTEROID IMPACT MONAZITE MELT Erickson, Timmons Kirkland, Chris Timms, Nick Cavosie, Aaron Davison, T.M. Precise radiometric age establishes Yarrabubba, Western Australia, as Earth’s oldest recognised meteorite impact structure |
| title | Precise radiometric age establishes Yarrabubba, Western Australia, as Earth’s oldest recognised meteorite impact structure |
| title_full | Precise radiometric age establishes Yarrabubba, Western Australia, as Earth’s oldest recognised meteorite impact structure |
| title_fullStr | Precise radiometric age establishes Yarrabubba, Western Australia, as Earth’s oldest recognised meteorite impact structure |
| title_full_unstemmed | Precise radiometric age establishes Yarrabubba, Western Australia, as Earth’s oldest recognised meteorite impact structure |
| title_short | Precise radiometric age establishes Yarrabubba, Western Australia, as Earth’s oldest recognised meteorite impact structure |
| title_sort | precise radiometric age establishes yarrabubba, western australia, as earth’s oldest recognised meteorite impact structure |
| topic | Science & Technology Multidisciplinary Sciences Science & Technology - Other Topics PALEOPROTEROZOIC SNOWBALL EARTH LOW-LATITUDE GLACIATION LARGE IGNEOUS PROVINCE SHOCKED ZIRCON VREDEFORT IMPACT GREAT OXIDATION MASS EXTINCTION ASTEROID IMPACT MONAZITE MELT |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LE130100053 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90163 |