Geologists Find Oldest, Largest Meteorite Impact Structure
The world's largest and oldest meteorite impact structure has been discovered through research on the formation of gold deposits in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields. Located in the eastern Yilgarn, the Watchorn Impact Structure (WIS) is 560 km in diameter at its widest point and estimated to be more than 2.6 billion years old. Read more
The discovery of prima facies evidence for impact structures in the Eastern Yilgarn, Western Australia
A large circular feature was observed by the author in gravity data of the Yilgarn region of Western Australia in May 1999. The discovery in August 2013 of prima facies evidence on many of the documented rings associated with this structure confirmed it to be of impact origin. The rings of this impact structure, the Watchorn Impact Structure (hereafter termed WIS), extend 560 km north-south and 480 km east-west diameter. From the impact structure's relationship with geological features the age of the impact is estimated at between 2.7-2.64 Ga. This is one of the largest and oldest impact structures worldwide. There are numerous other probable impact structures observable right across the Yilgarn from Mount Magnet to the Albany Frazer Tectonic zone east of Norseman. Read more (PDF)