In a recent revelation, scientists have uncovered that a massive meteorite, first identified in 2014, not only caused the largest tsunami in recorded history but also boiled the oceans. This space rock, referred to as S2, was 200 times larger than the one that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs and struck the Earth approximately three billion years ago, during its formative years.
To investigate this monumental impact, a team of researchers, led by Professor Nadja Drabon from Harvard University, trekked to the impact site located in South Africa’s Eastern Barberton Greenstone Belt. Armed with sledgehammers, they collected rock samples to analyze the aftermath of this cataclysmic event.
“We know that when Earth was newly formed, it was bombarded with debris from space,” Drabon explains. “However, our findings indicate that life was surprisingly resilient in the wake of these massive impacts and, in fact, flourished.”
The S2 meteorite, significantly larger than the infamous 10km-wide asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, measured between 40-60 kilometers wide. At the time of the impact, Earth resembled a water world with minimal landmass, inhabited predominantly by single-celled microorganisms.
Prof. Drabon and her team made multiple trips to the Eastern Barberton site, navigating remote mountains with the aid of rangers equipped to protect them from wildlife and potential poachers. Their primary goal was to locate spherule particles, tiny remnants from the impact. The team managed to collect hundreds of kilograms of rock, with Drabon cleverly stashing the most significant samples in her luggage for safe transport back to the lab.
She humorously notes, “I usually get stopped by security, but I share my excitement about the science, and they get so bored, they just let me through.”
The team was ultimately able to reconstruct the catastrophic event caused by the S2 meteorite. It created a massive 500km crater, sent materials flying through the atmosphere, generating clouds of molten rock instead of rain. “Imagine a rain cloud filled with molten rock droplets falling from the sky,” Drabon adds, emphasizing the scale of the disaster.
The impact triggered a global tsunami that reshaped coastlines and stirred the ocean floor. According to Drabon, the energy from the impact would have resulted in intense heat, boiling the oceans and causing substantial water evaporation. This would have plunged the planet into darkness, obliterating any life forms dependent on sunlight for survival.
However, in an unexpected twist, the geological evidence revealed that this devastation catalyzed the proliferation of nutrients like phosphorus and iron, which were crucial for early life. “While the impact was destructive, it turned out to be a significant opportunity for life to rebound swiftly and thrive,” she explains.
Drabon likens this process to brushing your teeth, where most bacteria are killed, yet they quickly return by the end of the day. This suggests that the intense impacts acted as a giant fertilizer, dispersing vital elements necessary for life’s survival across the globe.
The findings advocate for a growing scientific perspective that early life on Earth benefitted from the violent meteorite impacts during its formative years. “After such impacts, conditions may have actually been favorable for life to flourish,” Drabon concludes.
These remarkable insights have been published in the scientific journal PNAS, representing a significant advancement in our understanding of Earth’s early life and the role of extraterrestrial impacts.
