A massive meteorite hit what is now Scotland nearly 1 billion years ago, but researchers have just discovered it happened 200 million years later than previously believed. The new date doesn’t just change a number, it rewrites a major part of Scotland’s geological history and could shift what we know about some of the U.K.’s earliest life on land.
The meteorite impact created a rock layer in northwestern Scotland called the Stac Fada Member. Scientists used to think the strike happened about 1.17 billion years ago. But after a fresh analysis of zircon crystals in the rock, they now believe the real date was around 990 million years ago.
Why does this matter?
At that time, the region was part of the ancient supercontinent Rodinia and home to some of Earth’s earliest freshwater ecosystems, including tiny microbes that may have been the ancestors of today’s plants and animals, as per a statement released by the University of St Andrews. Knowing exactly when the meteorite struck helps scientists understand how these early life forms were affected and how they bounced back afterward.
Zircon crystals played a key role in this discovery. These tough minerals act like natural timekeepers. They contain uranium, which slowly turns into lead over time. By measuring this process, scientists can figure out how old the crystals and the events that affected them are. When the meteorite hit, it basically “reset” the clock in the zircon. That gave researchers a way to pinpoint the timing of the impact more accurately.
According to Tony Prave, a geoscientist at the University of St Andrews, the environment around Stac Fada had well-developed lakes, rivers, and estuaries before the strike. These places were filled with microbial life, offering scientists a rare glimpse into ecosystems just before and after a dramatic event like a meteor impact.
One big mystery remains: where exactly is the impact crater? That’s still unknown. It may be buried deep under the Torridonian mountains, or it could lie beneath the nearby sea. Either way, it’s unlikely to be found anytime soon having remained a mystery for so many centuries.
Still, this new date for the meteor strike gives scientists a better picture of how Scotland’s landscape formed and how life on land began to take shape. Even after a billion years, rocks are still telling their story – it just takes the right tools and analysis to understand it.
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