Luna Crater in Gujarat Could be from Meteor that hit Indus Valley Civilisation: Study

Context

Recently, a new study suggested that Luna Crater (1.8-kilometre-wide) in Gujarat may have been caused by the largest meteorite to strike the planet in the last 50,000 years. 

The Mystery Behind Gujarat’s Luna Crater 

• Supported by: Geochemical analysis at the site showed a high proportion of iridium in the soil. 
  • It suggests that an iron meteorite probably impacted the site. 
  • Researchers also discovered other characteristics of meteors, like wüstite, kirschsteinite, hercynite and ulvöspinel.
• Unaccepted by: Some scientists argue that while geochemical analysis could seem to match, it has not yet been conclusively proven that the Luna structure is a meteor crater. 
  • To do that, the researchers will need to find super-heated rocks that melted because of the energy of the impact.

Significance of the Study

• Impact on Indus Valley civilisation (IVC): The researchers dated the meteor impact to about 4,050 years ago in the area where people from the IVC lived thousands of years ago and got impacted. 
• Severe Impacts: If it was a meteor impact, it would have created shockwaves that reached five kilometers away and wildfires that went even further. 
  • The dust thrown up by the meteor would have dimmed the Sun for many days in what is now Gujarat. 
  • It would have been equivalent to a nuclear bomb, but without the radioactive fallout.

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