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Scientists have known for over a century that about 790,000 years ago, a 1.2-mile-wide meteorite smashed into the earth, scattering black, glassy blobs — known as tektites — across 20% of Earth’s eastern hemisphere. But until now, they didn’t know exactly where that behemoth landed.
The answer to that question may have just been found. In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, a team of scientists say they’ve finally found the location of the long-sought crater. They believe it’s in the southern part of Laos, in an area known as the Bolaven plateau. The findings were earlier reported by CNN.
“We present stratigraphic, geochemical, geophysical, and geochronological evidence that the ∼15-km diameter crater lies buried beneath a large, young volcanic field in Southern Laos,” they wrote.
The researchers propose the elusive crater may lie buried in the 218-cubic-mile Bolaven plateau volcanic field, buried under lava. They estimate the crater to be about 8 miles wide and 11 miles long. The case isn’t closed, however. The scientists next step is to drill down to the strata beneath lava and verify whether the crater is where they predict.
