Scientists Intrigued by Huge Structure Buried Under Australia


Frank Landymore
Sat, August 12, 2023 

Concealed History

The landmass of Australia could be harboring a massive, subterranean secret.

In a new essay for The Conversation, geologist Andrew Glikson explains his latest research that indicates that an epic asteroid crater could be buried underneath the continent — and all the evidence points to it being the largest known on the planet, by a huge margin.

Known as the Deniliquin structure, Glikson estimates in his study, published in the journal Tectonophysics, that it's over 320 miles in diameter. That would dwarf the largest confirmed impact structure, the approximately 100-mile-wide Vredefort Crater in South Africa, not to mention the similarly sized Chicxulub crater, believed to be from the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.


"The history of Earth's bombardment by asteroids is largely concealed," Gilkson wrote.

Uplifting Geology

The Deniliquin structure's existence was first proposed in the late 90s by Tony Yeates, who co-authored this latest study, based on magnetic patterns. A follow up analysis that wrapped up in 2020 confirmed that there was a large structure underneath a region in southern New South Wales, though without definitive proof it was caused by an impact.

You may ask: how does such a massive structure become buried beneath our feet, unnoticed?

As Glikson explains: "When an asteroid strikes, it creates a crater with an uplifted core. This is similar to how a drop of water splashes upward from a transient crater when you drop a pebble in a pool."

"This central uplifted dome," he adds, can erode over millions of years, becoming less prominent. If the crater isn't simply buried by sediment, a collision between the Earth's tectonic plates could also subsume the structure, as one colliding plate is forced beneath the other.

Along with the discovery of the dome, there are several other strong clues that identify the structure as an asteroid crater, such as symmetrical ripples in the crust that would be caused by the extreme temperatures of an impact, and "radial faults" commonly found in other impact structures.

Mass Extinction

Regrettably, most of the evidence gathered on the Deniliquin so far is only from the surface, and Glikson stresses the need for deep drilling to obtain "proof of impact."

Nevertheless, his latest research suggests that the asteroid impact that created it occurred roughly 445 million years ago, coinciding with what's known as the Late Ordovician mass extinction event that wiped out 85 percent of all life on Earth.

According to Glikson, it was more than double the scale of the dinosaurs' extinction at the hands of the Chicxulub impact. One shudders to imagine the scale of gargantuan space rock that forged the Deniliquin.

Buried object with ‘magnetic anomalies’ may be Utah-sized asteroid crater, study says

Brendan Rascius
Fri, August 11, 2023 

Photo from Joey Csunyo, UnSplash

Deep underneath the flat plains of the Australian outback, a massive object lies buried.

The hulking structure, which has “magnetic anomalies,” is likely a colossal asteroid crater, according to a study published in the journal Tectonophysics.

If it is indeed a crater, it would be the largest ever found on Earth.

Scientists determined the object, known as the Deniliquin Structure, was likely a fallen space rock by conducting an analysis of nearby geophysical evidence.

They used core samples from the ground and magnetic data from the air to help paint a clearer picture of the mysterious structure.

They found it “has all the features that would be expected from a large-scale impact structure,” Andrew Glikson, one of the study authors, wrote in The Conversation.

“For instance, magnetic readings of the area reveal a symmetrical rippling pattern in the crust around the structure’s core,” Glikson, a professor at the University of New South Wales, said. “This was likely produced during the impact as extremely high temperatures created intense magnetic forces.”

Using their geophysical data, they also determined the underground object has a minimum diameter of 273 miles, making it wider than the state of Utah.

That would mean it is far bigger than South Africa’s roughly 186-mile-wide Vredefort impact structure, considered to be the biggest in the world, Glikson said. He estimated the crater to be about 445 million years old and said the asteroid may have caused a mass extinction event.

The Australian continent is home to 30 known craters, the oldest of which date back over 1 billion years, according to Australian Indigenous Astronomy.