Scientists produce Impact Model of huge Asteroid that when Hit Earth

Scientists created a model showing the impacts of a massive asteroid which hit the Earth some 3.26 billion years ago and thought to have been the driving force behind the creation of Barberton greenstone belt in Africa. (Photo : American Geophysical Union)

The scientists determined that the asteroid, measuring 37 to 58 kilometers wide, hit the Earth at a speed of 20 kilometers per second. The impact created a jolt more powerful than a 10.8 magnitude earthquake and created seismic waves throughout the planet. After the quakes, tsunamis, which are far deeper than the Japan tsunami, were produced and swept away most of the Earth's land surface.

"We knew it was big, but we didn't know how big," a geologist at Stanford University and a co-author of the study, Donald Lowe said in a press release.

Lowe has previously studies the rock formations at the Barberton greenstone and discovered that their structure is consistent with an impact from an asteroid. His new research postulates how big the asteroid is and how destructive its impacts were, including the start of a new tectonic movement observed in that area.

"This is providing significant support for the idea that the impact may have been responsible for this major shift in tectonics," he added.

According to Lowe's models, when the asteroid hit Earth, the sky became red hot and the oceans boiled due to the very high temperature. The impact also created a belt of vaporized rock around our atmosphere, which later condensed and fell again to the surface.

The researchers concluded that this impact may have been the last ones to hit the Earth towards the end of the Late Heavy Bombardment period. This period was characterized by huge impacts that happened during the Earth's early history, which were about 3 billion to 4 billion years ago.

Studying the early asteroid impacts in our planet will also help scientists to map the early conditions which supported the evolution of life. Aside from changing the Earth's physical structure, the impact may have wiped out organisms which enabled other organisms to flourish, just like what happened when an asteroid impact cleared the Earth of dinosaurs, allowing smaller mammals to evolve.

Further details of the study can be read in the journal American Geophysical Union.