“We utilized small zircon crystals as geological’time pills’to date the effect to 990 million years earlier,”stated Curtin University’s Professor Chris Kirkland.

“These tiny crystals taped the precise minute of effect, with some even changing into an extremely uncommon mineral called reidite, which just forms under severe pressures.”

“This offered indisputable evidence that a meteorite strike triggered the Stac Fada deposit.

“When a meteorite strikes, it partly resets the atomic clocks inside the zircon crystals and these ‘damaged watches’ are typically not able to be dated however we established a design to rebuild when the disruption took place, validating the effect at 990 million years back.”

The effect occasion happened at a comparable time to the introduction of a few of the earliest freshwater eukaryotes, which are the ancient forefathers of plants, animals and fungis.

“The modified dating recommends these life kinds in Scotland appeared at a comparable time to a meteorite effect,” Professor Kirkland stated.

“This raises interesting concerns about whether big effects might have affected ecological conditions in manner ins which impacted early environments.”

“While the effect crater itself has yet to be discovered, this research study has actually gathered even more ideas that might lastly expose its area.

“Understanding when meteorite effects took place assists us explore their prospective impact in the world’s environment and the growth of life beyond the oceans.”

The group’s outcomes appear in the journal Geology

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C.L. Kirkland et alA one-billion-year-old Scottish meteorite effect. Geologyreleased online April 28, 2025; doi: 10.1130/ G53121.1