A new study shows that the planet Earth may have had a system of rings similar to the rings of Saturn after absorbing and disiegrating a transiting asteroid about 466 million years ago. This ring, which is probably formed from the remnas of that asteroid and remained stable for tens of millions of years, could have been the cause of global cooling and even the extreme ice age of the earth in the last 500 million years.
According to Tekna Technology Media Astronomy News Service, this conclusion is based on a detailed analysis of 21 impact craters around the world. Researchers believe that these craters were created by the impact of fragmes of a large asteroid. This eve occurred in the Ordovician period; A period in which the Earth has seen a significa increase in asteroid collisions.
A team led by Andy Tomkins, a professor of planetary science at Monash University in Australia, used computer models of the moveme of Earth’s tectonic plates in the past to investigate the initial location of these craters. The results show that all these craters were formed in latitudes close to the equator. This suggests that the asteroid fragmes formed a ring around the Earth after hitting it and then gradually fell on the surface of the planet.
Tomkins says: “Under normal conditions, asteroid impacts can occur anywhere on the planet’s surface. But the conceration of all these craters near the equator shows that these collisions were not accideal and are related to each other. Scieists believe that the existence of these craters near the equator is the strongest evidence for the existence of a ring around the Earth in the past. Because such rings are usually formed above the planetary equator. The probability that these craters were created randomly and unrelated to each other is very small.
Researchers estimate that the asteroid that led to the formation of this ring had a diameter of about 12.5 km. After hitting the earth, the parts of this asteroid were placed in the orbit around the earth and formed a ring. “Over millions of years, material from this ring has gradually fallen to Earth’s surface, increasing the number of meteorite impacts,” Tomkins added in a university stateme. Also, the sedimeary layers from this period coain large amous of meteorite remains.”
Analysis of these meteorite remains shows that they were exposed to less cosmic radiation than meteorites today. This also supports the hypothesis of the existence of a loop. In addition, there are signs of numerous tsunamis in the Ordovician period, which could be caused by the collision of fragmes of this ring with the oceans. Speaking to New Scieist, Birger Schmitz of Lund University in Sweden considers this study to be a new and innovative idea that explains some of the observations. But he emphasizes that more evidence is needed to definitively prove this hypothesis. If the Earth had a ring in the past, this ring could have had a significa effect on the Earth’s climate. Because the shadow that this ring casts on the surface of the earth could cause a decrease in global temperature. However, the exact details of these effects are still unclear.
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