India, Jan. 22 -- Models show that if the Yarrabubba asteroid hit an ice sheet 5 km thick, more than 200 billion tonnewater vapour would be ejected

The world's oldest remaining asteroid crater is at a place called Yarrabubba, southeast of the town of Meekatharra in Western Australia.

Our new study puts a precise age on the cataclysmic impact - showing Yarrabubba is the oldest known crater and dating it at the right time to trigger the end of an ancient glacial period and the warming of the entire planet.

What we found at Yarrabubba

Yarrrabubba holds the eroded remnants of a crater 70 kilometres wide that was first described in 2003, based on minerals at the site that showed unique signs of impact. But its true age was not known.

The ...