Rare 10,000-year-old Asteroid Crater Found In China

Scientists have found evidence of an asteroid impact in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong about 10,000 years ago, during a period of active human settlement and development. The impact site created the Jinlin crater, near the city of Zhaoqing. The results of the study were published in the journal Matter and Radiation at Extremes.

It is now the fifth confirmed meteorite impact site in China and the first known crater in the south of the country. The diameter of the formation is about 800 meters, the shape resembles an inclined bowl, which suggests that the meteorite had a diameter of approximately 30 meters. This was reported by South China Morning Post.

“The energy released upon impact is comparable to explosive power of 40 atomic bombs. Such an object could radically change the landscape, damage ecosystems and possibly affect the lives of people of that time.”explained Chen Ming from the Center for Advanced Research of High Pressure and Technology.

Rarity of the find

Before the discovery of Jinlin, only four other impact craters were confirmed in China, all in the northeast of the country: Baijifeng in Jilin Province (2023), Hailin in Heilongjiang (2024), and two other old craters. Southern China, which has a tropical and subtropical climate with high rainfall, heat and humidity, is particularly susceptible to chemical weathering and erosion, and tectonic activity in the region accelerates the destruction of the topography. This makes the preservation of ancient craters extremely rare.

“The locations of asteroid impacts can be in any region,” Min noted. “Detailed exploration of southern China and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau may reveal new impact craters.”

How the origin of the crater was confirmed

Scientists carefully examined quartz samples from the crater for the presence of planar deformation—microscopic lines in the crystal structure that only occur under the extreme pressure and temperature typical of asteroid impacts. These signs cannot be obtained through ordinary earthly processes.

“The discovery of such traces is convincing evidence that the crater was formed by an asteroid impact,” the researchers said.

Granite and glass fragments found in the area also indicate heavy impact. The researchers studied the crater’s slope, debris distribution and bowl depth to reconstruct the meteorite’s trajectory and estimate the impact’s power.

Geological and historical significance

Situated in a region with more than 145 cm of annual rainfall, the crater is prone to rapid erosion, especially along the edges where the ground is loose and eroded. To accurately determine the age, additional research is planned, including radiocarbon dating of sedimentary layers.

The discovery of the Jinlin crater opens up new opportunities to study the effects of ancient asteroid impacts on ecosystems and climate.

“Each discovery helps to understand how collisions of celestial bodies shaped the environment on Earth and how they may have influenced the lives of people and animals in the past,” Min said.