1.5 billion-year-old meteorite crater found in Finland

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2004

HELSINKI (AFP) — A crater from a meteorite that collided with earth some 1.5 billion years ago has been discovered in Finland by two amateur geologists, Finnish scientists said.

"The discovery is nine kilometers (5.6 miles) in diameter, but the original crater must have been much larger, because only the floor is left, since the rest of the crater bowl has eroded away," said Lauri Pesonen, a professor of geophysics at Helsinki University who verified the find.

According to calculations, the crater must have been between 20 and 25 kilometers (12.5 and 15.5 miles) wide following the impact, he added.

Two local amateur scientists, Satu Hietala and Jarmo Moilanen, came across the crater last fall when they found shatter cones in stones in the area.

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