A recent study has unveiled that the S2 meteorite, measuring between 37 and 58 kilometers (23-36 miles) in diameter, might have had a surprisingly beneficial impact on early life on Earth. This colossal meteorite, significantly larger than the one that contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs, struck our planet when it was still in its infancy, around 1.2 billion years after Earth’s formation, which dates back approximately 4.5 billion years.
When the S2 meteorite collided with Earth, it caused catastrophic events that reshaped the planet’s environment. Traditionally, such meteorite impacts are viewed as disastrous, leading to boiling seas and thick clouds of dust that obstruct sunlight. However, the S2 event appears to have provided critical nutrients that aided the survival and proliferation of certain life forms.
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Nadja Drabon, an assistant professor of Earth and planetary sciences at Harvard University, noted, “We often think of impact events as being disastrous for life. But this study highlights that these impacts could have had benefits, especially in the early stages of life, allowing it to flourish.”
The S2 impact generated the largest tsunami in history, which mixed the oceans and deposited land debris along the coasts. The heat from the collision boiled off the upper layers of the oceans, warming the atmosphere and creating a thick layer of dust. Yet, in the aftermath, life quickly rebounded, particularly among single-celled organisms that thrived on newly available nutrients.
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Dr. Drabon explained that the iron from the deep ocean was stirred up into shallower waters by the tsunami, while the phosphorus necessary for life may have been delivered by the meteorite itself, alongside increased erosion on land. This combination of factors likely led to a boom in iron-metabolizing bacteria, providing insight into the early evolutionary processes on Earth.
Evidence of the S2 meteorite impact can be traced back to the Barberton Greenstone Belt in South Africa, where geological formations hold clues about the ancient event. Dr. Drabon elaborated on the dynamics of the impact, stating, “Imagine standing off the coast of Cape Cod in a calm, low-energy environment, then suddenly experiencing a giant tsunami sweeping through and disturbing the seafloor.”
The findings of this groundbreaking study have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shedding new light on the relationship between catastrophic events and the evolution of life on our planet. This research underscores the potential for such impacts to create conditions conducive to the flourishing of early life, challenging long-held perceptions about the consequences of meteorite collisions.
