According to a new study, massive asteroids like the one that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs smashed into the young Earth more often than expected. Space.com. According to researchers, our developing planet collides with an object the size of a city or even larger every 15 million years.
During the violent period 2.5-3.5 billion years ago, the Earth changed a lot, and traces of transformations can still be seen in the rocks. Simon MarchiA colleague and colleagues at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder analyzed so-called spheroids, tiny bubbles formed from rock vaporized by shock. Due to the collisions, the material traveled into space, where it solidified again and then again fell to the surface.
The experts used a model to assess how asteroids might form spherical bodies and how they might be distributed on the planet. When the researchers compared the effects in the different layers to the known effects, they found a discrepancy.
These ancient events also affected oxygen levels and thus may have influenced the evolution of life.
In some rare objects in the atmosphere, such as the Moon, the effects of previous collisions can be discerned fairly well, but on Earth, due to geological activity and weather patterns, the evidence easily disappears. The new discovery confirms that we still have a lot to learn from the great pitfalls of the past.
