Huge meteorite crater discovered in Oman’s Mahout

Muscat: Sultan Qaboos University, represented by the Department of Earth Sciences at the College of Science, has announced the discovery of a huge meteorite crater with a diameter of one kilometer in the Wilayat of Mahut.

Prof. Sobhi Jaber Nasr, a professor at the Department of Earth Sciences, said that it is 60 million years old, and that the diameter of the meteorite that caused the appearance of this crater ranges between 50 and 60 meters, making it one of the largest impact craters in the Middle East.

This unique discovery provides a rare scientific site to study the effects of impacts on the ground that was not possible before, which makes the Sultanate of Oman present a second site for its distinction and geological heritage, where the ophiolite rocks are the first and unique example of revealing the surrounding crust rocks on its surface, as is the role of these rocks absorb an estimated 100 thousand tons of carbon dioxide annually, which will help to combat global warming naturally, and the rock fragments at the site of the discovered crater show signs of melting and recrystallization during the collision, as the sandstone quickly heats up to more than 1200 degrees, It is then cooled in situ, consistent with impact.

Rock analyzes of unmelted rock masses show the presence of impact minerals such as quartz crystals with a distinctive pattern of parallel, flat cracks, as a result of shock waves traveling through the bedrock, and the presence of the calcite mineral, in addition to that, indicates the major collision with the asteroid that hit the region.

On the other hand, the results of the analysis showed teardrop-shaped glass fragments, and pieces of glass perforated with small holes resulting from gas bubbles.

These two features also indicate the occurrence of a high-intensity collision there, and geophysical surveys indicated the distinctive vascular layered shape of the impact craters.

The site is expected to contain some economic minerals and will be an important site for domestic tourism, international science and national heritage.

It is worth noting that the moon preserved thousands of remains and traces of meteorites and asteroids that hit it, but on Earth we know only 190 of these traces or fossil structures, most of which are very small and old, as they quickly decomposed.