Gold Prospectors in Australia Uncover an Ancient Iron Meteorite Crater Hidden in Greenstone
Geologists prospecting for gold in Western Australia found the Ora Banda impact structure—a roughly 4 km-wide, iron-rich meteorite crater buried in ancient greenstone. Gravity data, shatter cones, and impact breccias with glassy nodules containing elevated siderophiles (nickel, iridium, platinum-group elements) point to an ancient meteorite impact, offering rare insights into early Earth and Mars analogs and suggesting other hidden structures may lie beneath greenstone formations.