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Earth’s Ancient Ring: A Glimpse into the Past
Context:
A recent study published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters suggests that Earth may have once had a ring similar to those of Saturn, formed around 466 million years ago.
More on News:
- This ring likely originated when an asteroid passed close to Earth, breaking apart under its gravitational pull and creating a debris ring around the planet’s equator.
Key Findings:
- Formation of the Ring: The ring consisted of small and large fragments from the asteroid, which orbited Earth.
- Over time, gravity pulled these fragments back toward the planet, causing some to burn up in the atmosphere while others created impact craters.
- Crater Analysis: Researchers analysed 21 impact craters dated to the Ordovician period (488 to 443 million years ago) and found they were all concentrated near the equator.
- This clustering suggests a correlation with the hypothesised ring, as impacts from asteroids typically occur randomly across latitudes.
- Impact on Climate: The existence of such a ring could have affected Earth’s climate significantly.
- It would have acted as a giant parasol, shading the winter hemisphere while slightly increasing solar energy in the summer hemisphere.
- This dual effect may have led to global cooling, coinciding with a notable drop in temperatures during the Hirnantian Ice Age around 445 million years ago.
Future Research Directions:
- To confirm the ring’s influence on climate, researchers plan to develop mathematical models to study asteroid break-up and the evolution of the ring.
- This will help in climate modelling to determine how much cooling the ring could have caused.