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

30 Mar 2024

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.

About Meteorite

  • It is a solid piece of debris from space that survives its passage through the Earth’s atmosphere and lands on the Earth’s surface.

Difference between Meteor, Meteorite and Meteoroid

  • Meteoroids: These are objects in space that range in size from dust grains to small asteroids.
  • Meteors: When meteoroids enter the Earth’s atmosphere, they are called meteors.
  • Meteorites: If a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere and hits the ground, it is called a meteorite.

 

Also Read: Ergosphere: Making A Black Hole Work

 

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