Craters discovered during drilling as part of geothermal research near the Innamincka EGS Project site
The twin scars of the impacts – the largest impact zone ever found on Earth – were discovered during drilling as part of geothermal research, in the Warburton Basin – an area near the borders of South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. The geothermal research project chanced on clues to the impacts while drilling more than two kilometres into the earth’s crust. The drill core contained traces of rocks that had been turned to glass by the extreme temperature and pressure caused by a major impact.
“The two parts of the asteroid must each have been over 10 km (6.4 mile) across – it would have been curtains for many life species on the planet at the time,” said Dr Glikson, who is the lead author of the paper published in the journal Tectonophysics.
