Study Finds Evidence of Asteroid Collision in Antarctica

The particles in the ball prove there was an asteroid impact 430 thousand years ago.

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – A study found particles from outer space asteroid collision at the top of Mount Walnumfjellet, Queen Maud Land, East Antarctica. The research team was led by scientists from the University of Kent and Imperial College London.

They said the particles found were called condensation balls and showed an asteroid about 100 meters in diameter crashed into the ice at high speeds 430,000 years ago. The impact of this collision is an explosion that creates a burst of meteor material that melts and vaporizes. The material is scattered and settled on the Antarctic ice sheet.

The researchers said this discovery is important for the geological record because evidence of this event is scarce. Scarcity of evidence exists due to difficulty identifying and characterizing impact particles. Study co-author Doctor Matthew Genge called an explosion of an asteroid or comet measuring only a few tens of meters at low altitude could be akin to a nuclear explosion with energy measured in megatons.

Asteroids that explode in the atmosphere at low altitudes are more common than those that create craters but are the most difficult to detect beforehand. The debris was inspected from the mountain and analyzed for its chemical elements.

From there, the researchers found a high nickel content and unique oxygen markers in the debris. They also believe that the study highlights the importance of reassessing the threat posed by medium-sized asteroids. This is because an impact of this magnitude will seriously damage a large area.

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