Discovery of Silverpit Crater: A Meteoric Impact Confirmed

After two decades of debate and discussions, researchers have finally confirmed that the Silverpit Crater, a buried structure in the North Sea, was formed by a meteor impact over 40 million years ago. This discovery marks a significant step in understanding Earth’s history and the effects of meteor impacts.

History and Discovery

The Silverpit Crater was discovered in 2002, located about 80 miles off the coast of Yorkshire. The crater is 1.8 miles wide and lies approximately 700 meters beneath the seabed. Its circular shape and central peak suggested a cosmic impact, but the lack of conclusive evidence led to alternative explanations.

Over the years, alternative theories emerged, suggesting that the crater could be the result of underground salt deposits or ancient volcanic activity, adding complexity to the debate over the crater’s origin.

Conclusive Evidence

A research team led by Usdin Nicholson from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland conducted a recent study using 3D seismic imaging techniques and drill cores from an oil well from the 1980s. These tools allowed researchers to form a clear image of the crater, confirming it was caused by a meteor impact.

The new seismic data revealed undeniable features of a meteor impact, including a central uplift, a surrounding moat, shattered rock zones, and even smaller “secondary” craters carved by falling debris.

Microscopic Studies

Microscopic analyses of the drill samples provided conclusive evidence, revealing rare grains of quartz and feldspar etched with microscopic scars that form only under extremely high pressures, which can only occur due to a meteor impact.

This discovery was described by Nicholson as finding a “needle in a haystack,” as these grains indisputably proved the hypothesis regarding the crater.

Potential Impacts

Computer models suggest that the meteor creating the Silverpit Crater was about 160 meters in diameter and traveled at speeds exceeding 15 kilometers per second. The impact produced a column of rock and seawater rising 1.5 kilometers before collapsing into a tsunami over 100 meters high.

The seismic record indicates that the event occurred during the middle Eocene epoch, between 43 and 46 million years ago.

Conclusion

After years of debate, confirming the origin of the Silverpit Crater as a model of rare meteor impacts on Earth places it alongside the Chicxulub Crater in Mexico and the recently discovered Nadir Crater off West Africa. The exceptionally well-preserved crater provides valuable insights into what happened during this specific event and what might occur if it were to happen again in the future.