New dating shows Oklahoma meteor crater is 100 million years younger than thought
University of Texas at Austin researchers revised the age of a buried meteor impact structure beneath Ames, Oklahoma, to approximately 370 million years ago.
Revised timeline for Ames crater
Scientists previously linked the Ames impact to an event occurring roughly 467.5 million years ago during the Ordovician period. Analysis of zircon crystals now indicates the structure formed about 370 million years ago instead. This finding removes the crater from a cluster of impacts that once suggested a ring of debris surrounded Earth.
Connection to mass extinction
The updated date places the impact closely alongside a major mass extinction that devastated marine life at the time. Researchers note this coincidence challenges previous theories about simultaneous meteor events across North America. The structure remains significant because it sits beneath layers of sediment and serves as an oil and gas producer.
Reported by one outlet
Only one outlet has published this. Nothing here has been checked against a second report, so read it as that outlet's account and follow the link below for the original.
Reported by
1 independent outlet. Headline as published. Links open the original report.