A large meteorite fell in Antarctica 430 thousand years ago

The celestial body did not leave a crater behind, since it turned into a stream of molten material still

approaching the Earth. However, the force of this impact event, according to the authors, was higher than that from the fall of the Tunguska meteorite.

Scientists have collected 17 tiny round black particlesless than a millimeter in diameter, resembling S-type space spherules, consisting mainly of olivine, minor iron spinel and interstitial glass.

Experts classify such events as a transitional type, occupying an intermediate position between explosions of extraterrestrial bodies in the atmosphere and impact events.

Spherules belong to chondrites, and the ratiomicroelements and high nickel content confirm their primarily extraterrestrial nature: the particles interacted with the oxygen of the ice sheet during their formation in the impact plume.

According to scientists' calculations, the size of the meteorite ranged from 100 to 150 meters. 

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