Latest news with #StacFadaMember
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Unassuming discovery in ancient rock rewrites understanding of life on Earth
Australian researchers have connected a meteorite strike with the emergence of microorganisms on land. Formed by ancient microbial communities, these rippled layers in rocks show evidence of some of the earliest life on land. Source: Tony Prave Buried below the earth in ancient rock, scientists based in Australia have discovered evidence of an event that disrupted the trajectory of life on Earth. The Curtin University-led team believe there could be a connection between a meteorite strike in Scotland 990 million years ago and the emergence of microorganisms on land. Lead author Professor Chris Kirkland told Yahoo News there have been several theories about the conditions needed to create life. But what's agreed upon is that it needs a form of energy. 'One way of giving energy to start these kinds of chemical reactions could actually be with a meteorite impact,' he said. Today, the Stac Fada Member meteorite site in the Scottish Highlands is a quiet place, surrounded by grassy rolling hills and bogs. Kirkland and his team are investigating whether the meteorite created ideal conditions for life on this landscape to emerge. ADVERTISEMENT '[Our research] probably links two processes together — the development of life on land with the impact. And that's a big, big thing,' he said. Related: New discovery hints at life on Mars: 'Right conditions' Towering blocks of sandstone show where the meteor struck 900 million years ago. Source: Tony Prave The new research has been published in the journal Geology. It upends a previous estimate that the strike occurred 1.2 billion years ago. The dating was completed through the analysis of zircon crystals, which are usually difficult to date. But the team created a new modelling system that's able to register the meteorite's heat and pressure disturbance in their texture. 'Zircon have shock textures, so we know they formed during the impact. And that now gives us a mechanism of precisely getting the edge of the impact,' Kirkland said. ADVERTISEMENT Prior to the impact, there is fossilised evidence of tiny single-celled eukaryotes, the ancestors of modern day fungi, animals and plants. They've left tiny wavy, crinkly marks in rock, indicating they were thriving in water, but not on land. Scientists hunting for exact impact point It's only after the meteorite struck, that the geologists have uncovered evidence of eukaryotes appearing on land around the crater site. Speaking upon the release of the study, Kirkland said understanding when meteorites strike will help scientists explore how they influenced the expansion of life beyond oceans. 'This raises fascinating questions about whether large impacts may have influenced environmental conditions in ways that affected early ecosystems,' he said. ADVERTISEMENT 'While the impact crater itself has yet to be found, this study has collected further clues that could finally reveal its location.' Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
Daily Record
03-05-2025
- Science
- Daily Record
Meteorite that struck Scotland 990 million years ago may have brought life to land
New evidence shows a meteorite struck Scotland 990 million years ago, reshaping Earth's timeline and possibly helping early life reach land New geological findings from Scotland have upended previous assumptions about the planet's ancient past, and hint that a colossal meteorite impact may have played a surprising role in life's first move onto land. Scientists now believe a huge space rock slammed into what is now northwestern Scotland 990 million years ago, revising earlier estimates that placed the event at 1.2 billion years ago. The findings, published in the journal Geology, offer fresh insights into how meteorites may have helped shape Earth's early ecosystems. The ancient impact created the Stac Fada Member, a distinctive layer of rock that has long intrigued researchers. Thanks to advanced analysis of microscopic zircon crystals within the rocks, experts were able to narrow down the timing of the impact with remarkable precision. 'These microscopic crystals recorded the exact moment of impact, with some even transforming into an incredibly rare mineral called reidite, which only forms under extreme pressures,' said lead author Chris Kirkland from Curtin University in Western Australia. 'This provided undeniable proof that a meteorite strike caused the Stac Fada deposit.' Kirkland explained that meteor strikes partially reset the atomic clocks inside zircon crystals. 'These 'broken timepieces' are often unable to be dated, but we developed a model to reconstruct when the disturbance occurred, confirming the impact at 990 million years ago,' he said. Although the location of the impact crater remains undiscovered, the study has offered promising new clues that could eventually pinpoint its site. These details may ultimately lead to the discovery of the crater, giving scientists an even clearer understanding of the meteorite's role in shaping the Earth's geological landscape. Beyond reworking the geological timeline, the discovery also opens the door to intriguing questions about the evolution of early life. While plants are believed to have first colonised land around 470 million years ago, followed by arthropods such as insects and spiders about 425 million years ago, the first vertebrates, ancestors of humans, appeared on land roughly 400 million years ago. But long before any of these organisms emerged, single-celled eukaryotes, the ancestors of plants, animals and fungi, had already begun venturing out of Earth's oceans. This transition marks one of the earliest steps in the story of life on land, but it happened long before the more complex organisms such as plants and arthropods made their way onto solid ground. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Kirkland's team found evidence of freshwater eukaryotes in the region dating back to the same time as the newly dated impact, suggesting a potential link between the two events. This discovery adds a compelling layer to the ongoing narrative of how life evolved and adapted to the changing conditions of our planet. 'The revised dating suggests these life forms in Scotland appeared at a similar time to a meteorite impact,' Kirkland said. 'This raises fascinating questions about whether large impacts may have influenced environmental conditions in ways that affected early ecosystems. 'Understanding when meteorite impacts occurred helps us explore their potential influence on Earth's environment and the expansion of life beyond the oceans.'
BBC News
01-05-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Billion year old meteorite 'influenced early life'
Scientists say a massive meteorite struck north-west Scotland 200 million years later than previously thought - and may have influenced early life on Earth. The meteorite, which created a layer of rock in parts of the Highlands called the Stac Fada Member, was believed to have occurred 1.2bn years ago. But new research led by the University of St Andrews and Australia's Curtin University suggests it actually happened 990 million years ago. The study also suggests the impact came at a similar time to the emergence of early lifeforms called freshwater eukaryotes - ancient ancestors of plants, animals and fungi. The scientists used tiny zircon crystals in rocks as geological "time capsules" to date the meteorite impact. The research has been published in the journal Geology. Prof Chris Kirkland, of Curtin University, said: "The revised dating suggests these life forms in Scotland appeared at a similar time to a meteorite impact. "This raises fascinating questions about whether large impacts may have influenced environmental conditions in ways that affected early ecosystems." He added: "While the impact crater itself has yet to be found, this study has collected further clues that could finally reveal its location." Prof Tony Prave, from the University of St Andrews, said the impact occurred on a landscape sculpted by rivers, lakes and estuaries with thriving microbial ecosystems. He said: "Impacts typically blow away the land surface and create deep craters. "What makes Stac Fada unique is that it preserves not only the record of the impact event but also of the actual land surface across which those ancient ecosystems existed prior to the impact and, importantly, how they recovered from such a natural disaster." NASA Johnson Space Centre and the University of Portsmouth also collaborated on the research.
BBC News
30-04-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Billion year old meteorite 'influenced early life forms'
Scientists say a massive meteorite struck north-west Scotland 200 million years later than previously thought - and may have influenced early life on meteorite, which created a layer of rock in parts of the Highlands called the Stac Fada Member, was believed to have occurred 1.2bn years new research led by the University of St Andrews and Australia's Curtin University suggests it actually happened 990 million years study also suggests the impact came at a similar time to the emergence of early lifeforms called freshwater eukaryotes - ancient ancestors of plants, animals and fungi. The scientists used tiny zircon crystals in rocks as geological "time capsules" to date the meteorite research has been published in the journal Geology. Prof Chris Kirkland, of Curtin University, said: "The revised dating suggests these life forms in Scotland appeared at a similar time to a meteorite impact."This raises fascinating questions about whether large impacts may have influenced environmental conditions in ways that affected early ecosystems."He added: "While the impact crater itself has yet to be found, this study has collected further clues that could finally reveal its location." Prof Tony Prave, from the University of St Andrews, said the impact occurred on a landscape sculpted by rivers, lakes and estuaries with thriving microbial said: "Impacts typically blow away the land surface and create deep craters. "What makes Stac Fada unique is that it preserves not only the record of the impact event but also of the actual land surface across which those ancient ecosystems existed prior to the impact and, importantly, how they recovered from such a natural disaster."NASA Johnson Space Centre and the University of Portsmouth also collaborated on the research.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
1 billion years ago, a meteorite struck Scotland and influenced life on Earth
We've discovered that a meteorite struck northwest Scotland 1 billion years ago, 200 million years later than previously thought. Our results are published today in the journal Geology. This impact now aligns with some of Earth's earliest known, land based, non-marine microbial fossils, and offers new insights into how meteorite strikes may have shaped our planet's environment and life. The Torridonian rocks of northwest Scotland are treasured by geologists as some of the finest archives of the ancient lakes and river systems that existed a billion years ago. Those water bodies were home to microbial ecosystems consisting of eukaryotes. Eukaryotes are single-celled organisms with complex internal structures that are the ancestors of all plants and animals. But the Torridonian environments and their associated microbial communities were dramatically disrupted when a meteor slammed into the planet. The record of this event is preserved in a geological unit known as the Stac Fada Member. It is comprised of unusual layers of rock fragments broken and melted by the impact. Also, crucially, there are shock-altered minerals that closely resemble those found in famous impact sites such as Chicxulub (Mexico) and Sudbury (Canada). In the case of the Stac Fada, these minerals were engulfed in high-energy, ground-hugging flows of smashed rock triggered by the impact that spread across the ancient landscape. What is exciting about our new date for the Stac Fada impact is that it now overlaps in age with microfossils preserved elsewhere in the Torridonian rocks. This raises some interesting questions. For example, how did the meteorite strike influence the environmental conditions those early non-marine microbial ecosystems relied on? Determining when a meteorite struck is no easy task. We can use minerals to constrain the age, but they have to be the right kind. In this case it means something that wasn't overly altered by the intense heat, pressure and fluids generated by the impact, yet robust enough to survive the ravages of deep geological time. Suitable minerals are extremely rare, but we found a few in the Stac Fada rocks. One was reidite, a mineral that only forms under extreme pressure. The other was granular zircon, a uranium-bearing mineral formed by immense impact temperatures. These minerals are, in effect, tiny stopwatches whose clocks start 'ticking' at the time they form. Although these clocks are often damaged during the impact and the ensuing pulse of heat, we used mathematical modelling to determine the most probable time of impact. Together, these techniques consistently pointed to an event 1 billion years old, not 1.2 billion years old as previously suggested. Given such vast spans of time, a 20% change in age might not seem dramatic. However, the new age shows the timing of the impact coincides with early non-marine eukaryotic fossils. It also lines up with a major mountain-building event. This means the Torridonian lifeforms had to cope with significant, environment-altering phenomena. The origin of life is a deeply complex process that likely began with a series of pre-biotic chemical reactions. While much remains unknown, it is intriguing that two ancient meteorite impacts, the 3.5-billion-year-old North Pole impact in Western Australia and now the 1-billion-year-old Stac Fada deposit in northwest Scotland, occur close in time to major milestones in the fossil record. The North Pole impact occurs in a sequence of rocks containing stromatolites, some of the oldest-known fossils considered to be indicative of microbial life. All life requires energy. The earliest forms of life are thought to be associated with volcanic hydrothermal springs. Impacts offer a plausible alternative. The immediate aftermath of a meteorite strike is extreme and hostile, and would ruin your day. But the long-term effects could support key biological processes. Meteorite strikes fracture rocks, generate long-lived hydrothermal systems and form crater lakes that enable the concentration of important ingredients for life, such as clays, organic molecules and phosphorus. The latter is a key element for all forms of life. In Scotland, the Stac Fada impact lies within an ancient river and lake environment that housed microbial ecosystems colonising the land. What makes the Stac Fada impact deposits fascinating is that, unlike most other impacts on Earth, they preserve the environments in which those pioneering organisms lived immediately prior to the impact. Further, the impact deposits were subsequently buried as non-marine microbial habitats became reestablished. So, the Stac Fada rocks provide an opportunity to see how microbial life recovered from impact. Extraterrestrial visitors in the form of meteorite collisions may not just have scarred Earth's surface, but shaped its future, turning catastrophic events into natural crater-cradles of life. This article is republished from The Conversation. It was written by: Chris Kirkland, Curtin University; Timmons Erickson, Curtin University, and Tony Prave, University of St Andrews Read more: Echidna ancestors lived watery lifestyles like platypuses 100 million years ago – new study Here's how to make your backyard safer and cooler next summer Granular systems, such as sandpiles or rockslides, are all around you − new research will help scientists describe how they work The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
