COSMIC GLASS FOUND ONLY IN AUSTRALIA REVEALS MYSTERIOUS ANCIENT ASTEROID IMPACT

Thu 02 October 2025:

Researchers have helped uncover evidence of a mysterious giant asteroid impact, hidden not in a crater but in tiny pieces of glass found only in Australia.

The discovery centers on rare tektites, which are natural glasses created when a space rock slams into Earth, melting surface material and hurling it hundreds or even thousands of kilometers, according to a statement released Thursday by Australia’s Curtin University.

The newly discovered type of tektites, dated to around 11 million years ago, have so far been found exclusively in an area mainly within the Australian state of South Australia, the statement said.

“These glasses are unique to Australia and have recorded an ancient impact event we did not even know about,” said Professor Fred Jourdan from Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

These six unusual tektites are millions of years old and unlike other tektites found nearby, according to a new study. (Image credit: Earth and Planetary Science Letters)

Finding a new tektite field is like opening a fresh chapter in Earth’s violent geological past, said Jourdan, co-author of the study published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, a scientific journal in the Netherlands.

“These tiny pieces of glass are like little time capsules from deep in our planet’s history,” he said.

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Although the impact must have been immense, no crater has yet been found. Jourdan said understanding the timing and frequency of large asteroid impacts helps assess future impact risks and is key for planetary defense.

“While the Australasian tektites formed about 780,000 years ago and are spread across half the globe, these tektites are much older and their discovery suggests a previously unrecognized giant impact,” said study lead author Anna Musolino, researcher at France’s Aix-Marseille University.

“These tektites are unique because of their unusual chemistry and their age, which is about 11 million years,” Musolino said.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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