Overview
- Curtin University researchers published a Geology paper on Tuesday reporting concordant U–Pb ages of roughly 3.019–3.024 billion years from zircon and apatite in rocks at North Pole Dome in the Pilbara.
- The team targeted zircon that shows recrystallisation and skeletal textures and apatite that grew in post‑impact hydrothermal fluids to isolate minerals reset by the strike rather than later changes.
- If the mineral ages record the impact, North Pole Dome would replace Yarrabubba as the oldest well‑dated terrestrial crater and would be the only currently recognized Archean impact structure.
- Some specialists dispute the interpretation because shatter cones and mapped rock correlations tie parts of the site to nearby units dated at about 2.77 billion years, so the age and causal link to the impact remain contested and require more field work.
- Beyond the date, researchers say the site offers a rare window into how ancient impacts fractured crust and powered hot‑fluid systems that could alter rocks and affect early microbial environments, and follow‑up studies and independent dating are needed to confirm those implications.