WISSENSCHAFT
Riesiger Einschlagkrater wurde unter Grönlandeis entdeckt
November 15, 2018 - Es könnte ein riesiger Meteoritenkrater sein, der unter Grönlands Eisdecke entdeckt wurde. Wenn die Ursache des Kraters bestätigt wird, wäre es der erste Meteoriteneinschlag unter der Kontinentaleisdecke
Investigations suggest the feature, found under the Hiawatha Glacier, was probably dug out by a 1.5km-wide iron asteroid
between about 12,000 and three million years ago.
The impact of such meteorite would have had significant ripple effects in the region, possible even globally.
A team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen's Centre for GeoGenetics at the Natural History Museum of Denmark first spotted the crater in July 2015.
The 31km-wide depression came to light when scientists examined radar images of the island's bedrock.
The initial finding was made with data from NASA’s Program for Arctic Regional Climate Assessment and Operation IceBridge.
More data was collected since then, using more advanced radar technology by the Alfred Wegener Institute’s Polar 6 research aircraft.
The sepresion is larger than Washington DC and would rank among the top 25 known craters in the world.
- A large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier in northwest Greenland (Science Advances)
- City-size impact crater found under Greenland ice (National Geographic)
- Scientists Spot What May Be a Giant Impact Crater Hidden Under Greenland Ice (Space.com)
- Polar aircraft Polar 6 (AWI)
- International Team, NASA Make Unexpected Discovery Under Greenland Ice (NASA)