Scientists have found grounds for a monumental wallop volcanic crater hidden underwater near the Falkland Islands . If confirmed , it could be the second big crater on Earth – and perhaps linked to our planet ’s greatest quenching event .
The discovery was led by Max Rocca from Argentina ’s Planetary Society . The researchers estimate the crater may be 250 kilometers ( 155 international nautical mile ) in width and 270 to 250 million age old . The determination are published in the journalTerra Nova .
Its macrocosm was inferred by noticing a decrease in the strength of Earth ’s gravity over a incision of the Atlantic Ocean . This may be the result of vernal low - density stuff from an impingement filling the basin .
They also found an increase in Earth ’s magnetic attraction at the web site , which is a characteristic of large shock structures such as the 66 - million - class - honest-to-goodness Chicxulub impact crater in Mexico . former research evoke this may have been due to volcanic activity , but the researchers argue if that was the case , the gravity reading material would be the reverse to what they take note .
“ The comportment of a big , buried impingement social system , however , can explain the occurrence of both a electronegative gravity anomaly and a positive magnetized unusual person in the same area , ” they write .
The crater is at S 51º 00 ’ , W 62º 00 ’ . Google Maps
If the volcanic crater is reassert as being from the Late Paleozoic era , the investigator also paint a picture it may be linked to the openhanded defunctness effect in history , the Great Dying , which occurred about 252 million years ago .
More than 90 percent of coinage on Earth were wiped out at this meter , with a number of possible causes admit volcanic activeness , drain of atomic number 8 in the oceans , and uttermost clime change . There have been suggestions an encroachment play a part , too , but no crater had been found .
" If the offer volcanic crater turns out to be 250 million years former , it could correlate with the big good deal extinction ever – the Permian extinction , which wiped out more than 90 percent of all species , " study co - author Michael Rampino from New York University sound out in astatement .
They contend that future drilling in this basin “ is a must ” , with no boring yet being performed here . Like Chicxulub , there is no genuine visible volcanic crater in submarine maps of the area , so indirect evidence for the crater is essential .
Thelargest known crateron Earth is the Vredefort crater in South Africa , which measures about 300 km ( 190 miles ) across and date back 2.02 billion years . This Falklands volcanic crater would draw for second with the Sudbury volcanic crater in Ontario , Canada , which also measures 250 kilometers ( 155 miles ) across and is about 1.85 billion years one-time .
