Under the Greenland glacier, a 31-kilometer impact crater was discovered

An international group of scientists working underIn the course of topological research, Kurt Kira, from the University of Copenhagen, discovered a huge impact crater with a diameter of about 31 kilometers, almost under a kilometer thick ice of the Hiawatta glacier in northwestern Greenland. In the course of their work, scientists used NASA data collected from 1997 to 2016, as well as information obtained through radar survey of the area. The discovery is reported in the journal Science Advances.

Scientists note that the crater isone of the 25 largest impact structures on the surface of the earth. In addition, it retained its original shape better than other structures of similar sizes.

The researchers believe that the crater formed inresult of the fall of a meteorite measuring about 1 kilometer. And apparently the structure of the object was rich in metals. Scientists have made such a conclusion on the basis of the analysis of deposits on the edges of the glacier, which were carried there by meltwater. As it turned out, the samples contain a large amount of minerals, which is characteristic of meteorite craters. Scientists have discovered particles of quartz that has passed through melting, as well as nickel, platinum, gold, and cobalt in volumes that are not typical of the earth's crust.

Crater topology

To establish the exact age of the crater, scientists have not yetcan However, it is assumed that it appeared not earlier than the so-called Pleistocene era, which began more than 2.5 million years ago (when Greenland was not yet covered with glaciers) and ended about 12 thousand years ago.

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