Deep beneath the North Sea, 80 miles off the Yorkshire coast, lies a crater that has sparked scientific debate for decades. Now, researchers have confirmed that the Silverpit crater was created by a direct hit from an asteroid or comet about the size of York Minster more than 43 million years ago.
The 160-metre-wide asteroid smashed into the sea, triggering a 100-metre-high tsunami. While the impact was catastrophic for early mammals in the area, it was far less devastating than the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. The Silverpit crater is only 2 miles wide, compared to the 110-mile-wide Chicxulub crater in Mexico.
Uisdean Nicholson, a sedimentologist from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh who led the research team, said new seismic imaging provided unprecedented detail. 'It was definitely an exciting moment,' he said, describing the investigation as 'a needle in the haystack approach.' The team used seismic imaging, microscopic analysis of rock cuttings, and numerical models to provide the strongest evidence yet that Silverpit is an impact crater.
The crater was discovered in 2002 by petroleum geoscientists, who initially believed it was a hypervelocity impact crater due to its central peak, circular shape, and concentric faults. However, some scientists argued it was caused by the movement of salt rocks. A 2009 debate at the Geological Society ended with an 80-20 vote against the impact hypothesis. 'Most people favoured the mundane explanation,' Nicholson recalled.
Nicholson was asked to investigate Silverpit due to his experience discovering another impact crater in west Africa. With funding from the Natural Environment Research Council, his team's findings settle the debate. 'Silverpit is exceptionally preserved and important,' Nicholson said. 'We can use these findings to understand how asteroid impacts shaped our planet throughout history, as well as predict what could happen should we have an asteroid collision in future.'
