Planet Earth has been around for a long time, perhaps longer than one can possibly comprehend, and throughout its extremely lengthy history, it has been hit by several meteorites that have certainly left their mark on the planet we call home today. But what were the consequences of one of these mega meteorites hitting Earth?
To answer this question, we must first understand the properties of the meteorite itself. The S2 space rock was first discovered in 2014, and it was 200 times as big as the one that wiped out the dinosaurs. This specific meteorite hit our planet when it was a “newborn” almost three billion years ago.
New discoveries regarding the S2 mega meteorite and its impact on our planet might suggest that the mega meteorite did not only unleash an ancient apocalypse on our world but might have actually helped create better conditions for life to bloom on Earth.
The impact of S2 led to a tsunami bigger than any recorded previously and warmed oceans
Ironically, however, this mega meteorite did not exclusively bring destruction to our planet. It helped early life on planet Earth thrive. Scientists at the impact site in modern-day South Africa said, “We know that after Earth first formed there was still a lot of debris flying around space that would be smashing into Earth.”
It was added that life seemed to in fact be resilient despite tremendous impacts and that it may, as a result, actually have thrived.
Scientists refer to this massive meteorite as the S2, and they have estimated that when it struck Earth, the planet was mostly a water world with most continents still underwater. At this time, life was extremely primitive and composed entirely of microorganisms that were themselves composed of single cells.
The impact site of the S2 mega meteorite—one of the oldest
As previously mentioned, the impact site of the S2 meteorite is located in modern-day South Africa. It should also be noted that Eastern Baberton Greenbelt is one of the oldest places on the planet with remains of a meteorite crash.
This was a dangerous track for scientists, as they had to drive quite far in an especially remote national park and be accompanied by park rangers armed with machine guns in case they were attacked by wild animals.
At the site itself, scientists were looking for something called spherule particles, which essentially are tiny pieces of rock left behind by the mega meteorite impact.
Scientists are now aware of the actual damage of the meteorite which crashed into our planet. Upon its impact, the meteorite carved out an over 300-mile crater, pulverized rocks at remarkable speeds, and formed a cloud that covered the entire planet.
Unexpectedly, however, it has been shown that the impact of the S2 meteorite helped build up crucial nutrients such as phosphorus and iron, which fed simple organisms at the time. This would suggest that the impact would have acted as a giant fertilizer that would have spread crucial elements for life out into the environment.
