The impact may have played a crucial role in shaping early Earth and its life, potentially creating warm water basins that favored microbial life and altering the Earth's crust.

Motivated by questions about the formation of Earth's first continents, the research team, led by Chris Kirkland, aims to enhance understanding of early Earth's crust evolution and the conditions that may have supported the origins of life.

The findings suggest that meteorite impacts significantly influenced geological history and could lead to new insights into early Earth and the origins of life.

Professor Tim Johnson noted that the absence of ancient craters has led geologists to overlook them, indicating that many more such craters may still be undiscovered.

This impact event is considered significant, with debris ejected globally, highlighting a tumultuous period in Earth's history when large impacts were common.

The impact event occurred approximately 3.47 billion years ago, with evidence suggesting it distributed rocks globally, similar in age to ancient rock beds found in South Africa.

The research findings were published in the journal Nature Communications on March 6, 2025, providing new insights into Earth's early geological history and the development of life.

Stromatolites, nearly 3.5 billion years old and located in the impact area, serve as some of the oldest evidence of life, offering clues about what fossilized signs of life on Mars might resemble.

The crater's location supports the theory that meteorite impacts were crucial in the formation of Earth's first continents, further emphasizing the significance of this discovery.

Researchers have uncovered Earth's oldest meteorite impact crater in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, dating back over 3.5 billion years, significantly predating any previously known craters.

This ancient impact is believed to have created a crater approximately 62 miles wide, resulting from a violent collision with a space rock traveling at speeds exceeding 22,000 mph.

The team identified the crater through unique rock formations known as 'shatter cones,' which form under the intense pressure of a meteorite impact.