Tag Archive for 'Pilbara region'

The North Pole Dome crater: (A) simplified map of the East Pilbara Terrane (EPT, Western Australia), showing Paleoarchean granite domes (pink) and greenstone belts (greens and blues); the North Pole Dome (NPD) lies near the terrane center; (B) geological map of the NPD and the shatter-cone field (yellow star); (C) A quartz (Qtz)-carbonate vein cutting shatter-cone lineation. Image credit: Kirkland et al., doi: 10.1130/G54866.1.

Australia’s North Pole Dome Crater is Earth’s Oldest and Only Known Archean Impact Structure

Jun 25, 2026 by Natali Anderson

Zircon crystals and impact-altered minerals show that a massive asteroid slammed into what is now the Pilbara region of Western Australia about 3 billion...

Hadean Earth. Image credit: Alec Brenner.

Earth’s Lithosphere was Already Segmented and Mobile 3.5 Billion Years Ago

Mar 22, 2026 by News Staff

By tracing magnetic signals preserved in 3.5-billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia, geoscientists have found the oldest direct evidence yet that...

Shatter cones at the North Pole Dome in the center of the Pilbara region, Australia. Image credit: Curtin University.

3.47-Billion-Year-Old Impact Crater Discovered in Australia

Mar 6, 2025 by News Staff

A team of geologists from Curtin University has discovered unequivocal evidence for a hypervelocity meteorite impact 3.47 billion years ago (Archean Eon)...