Biggest meteorite impact ever found in UK

Researchers claim to have found the site where the largest meteorite impact in the United Kingdom occurred.

The crater was first found in 2008 at about 40 km off the coast of NW Scotland by researchers from Oxford and Aberdeen Universities. Scientists detected traces of iridium, a chemical which is found in high concentrations in meteorites. However, the exact location of the impact remained unknown.

A recent study led by Dr. Ken Amor, researcher at the Department of Earth Sciences at Oxford University, proves that the meteor is buried beneath water and young rocks in the Minch basin area and it is well-preserved. "The material excavated during a giant meteorite impact is rarely preserved on Earth, because it is rapidly eroded, so this is a really exciting discovery. It was purely by chance this one landed in an ancient rift valley where fresh sediment quickly covered the debris to preserve it. The next step will be a detailed geophysical survey in our target area of the Minch Basin," Dr. Amor stated.

It is estimated that its width was around 1 kilometer and crashed into the earth about 1.2 billion years ago. Scotland was located near the equator at that period. Back then, most life on Earth was confined into the oceans, therefore, the impact did not significantly affect the living organisms. 

The meteor struck the Minch basin with a force of more than 940 million times larger than the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. “It would have been quite a spectacle when this large meteorite struck a barren landscape, spreading dust and rock debris over a wide area,” Dr. Amor added.

Meteorite collisions are common in Earth and other planets of our solar system. The biggest crater even found, with a 400-km diameter, is located in Australia and was discovered about 4 years ago.