466 million years ago, the Earth probably had rings like Saturn – scientists

466 million years ago, Earth probably had rings like Saturn

Oliver Hull/Monash University

466 million years ago, Earth may have had a ring system similar to that of Saturn.

The temporary structure likely consisted of asteroid debris, the study said. published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, writes Space.com.

A debris ring around our planet could have caused global cooling and even contributed to the coldest period on Earth in the last 500 million years.

This is evidenced by a new analysis of 21 craters around the world. They were formed as a result of the fall of fragments of a large asteroid between 488 and 443 million years ago, when the Earth was actively “attacked” by asteroids.

The team of scientists found that all the craters formed on continents that floated within 30° of the equator. Researchers hypothesized that the craters were formed by falling debris from a single large asteroid that disintegrated after a near-collision with Earth.

“Under normal circumstances, asteroids hitting Earth can hit at any latitude randomly, as we see in the craters on the Moon, Mars and Mercury.

Therefore, it is extremely unlikely that all of the more than 20 craters of this period would have formed near the equator if they were not connected to each other.”said Andy Tomkins, professor of planetary science at Monash University in Australia.

According to scientists, the chain of craters that “hug” the equator is consistent with the ring of debris that rotates around the Earth.

This is because such rings usually form above the equator of the planets, such as those around Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune.

Scientists have also calculated the probability of accidental impacts by asteroids – it is 1 to 25 million.

The researchers estimate that the ringed asteroid would be about 12.5 kilometers wide if it were a “heap of debris”.

“Over millions of years, material from this ring gradually fell to Earth, creating the burst of meteorite impacts seen in the geologic record.

We also see that the sedimentary rock layers of this period contain an extraordinary amount of meteorite fragments“, the scientist noted.

The researchers say these deposits also reveal evidence of multiple tsunamis during the Ordovician period, which could be explained by the asteroid passing by the Earth.