A remarkably well-preserved impact crater has been discovered in Guangdong Province, China, providing evidence of a relatively recent extraterrestrial impact. The Jinlin crater, located near Jinlin Waterside-village in Zhaoqing city, is the largest known impact structure from the current Holocene epoch, exceeding the size of previously identified craters by a significant margin.
Holocene Impacts: A Rare Discovery
Impact craters are geological features formed when asteroids or meteorites collide with a planetary surface. While Earth has been struck by numerous extraterrestrial objects throughout its history, most ancient craters have been eroded, buried, or deformed by tectonic activity and weathering. Approximately 200 impact craters have been identified worldwide, with only four previously reported in China – all in the northeastern region.
The Jinlin crater’s discovery is particularly notable because it is located in a tropical monsoon climate, characterized by high rainfall, humidity, and temperatures that accelerate erosion. Despite these conditions, the crater remains exceptionally well-preserved, offering a unique opportunity to study a recent impact event.
Crater Characteristics and Evidence of Impact
The Jinlin crater measures 900 meters in diameter, making it considerably larger than the previously largest Holocene impact structure, the 300-meter Macha crater. Researchers identified distinctive microfeatures within the granite layers of the crater, specifically planar deformation features in quartz crystals. These features are created by the intense shockwaves generated during high-velocity impacts, and cannot be produced by any known terrestrial geological process.
“The formation pressure of these features ranges from 10 to 35 gigapascals, a shock effect only achievable through celestial body impacts,” explained Dr. Ming Chen, a researcher at the Center for High Pressure Science and Technology. The team has not yet determined whether the impactor was a metallic or stony meteorite.
Implications for Understanding Earth’s Impact History
The discovery challenges previous assumptions about the frequency and scale of recent impact events. It suggests that small extraterrestrial objects have impacted Earth more frequently and with greater force during the Holocene epoch than previously recorded.
“Throughout Earth’s history, every point on its surface has faced roughly equal odds of being struck by an extraterrestrial object,” Dr. Chen noted. “However, geological differences mean that the historical footprints of these impacts eroded at varying rates, and some have fully disappeared.” The Jinlin crater’s preservation makes it a valuable record of Earth’s impact history.
The team’s research, published on October 15, 2025, in the journal Matter and Radiation at Extremes, provides a new basis for understanding the distribution, geological evolution, and impact history of small extraterrestrial bodies. The discovery reinforces the idea that Earth remains a dynamic target for ongoing extraterrestrial impacts
