Produced by: Manoj Kumar
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Beneath a mile of Antarctic ice lies a massive gravitational dip that could mark the site of a world-changing impact.
The Wilkes Land anomaly spans 300 miles—suggesting a crater formed by a cataclysmic meteor strike millions of years ago.
Detected through satellite data, the anomaly reveals a mascon—a gravity signature typical of massive impact craters.
If confirmed, the impact may date back 4 billion years, to the chaotic Late Heavy Bombardment of the early solar system.
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The estimated energy released rivals that of the impact that wiped out the dinosaurs—only deeper, older, and colder.
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Some scientists propose a volcanic or tectonic origin, but the shape and gravity match known cosmic impacts too closely.
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At 1.6 km beneath Antarctic ice, the anomaly resists direct study—leaving only remote sensing and models to tell its tale.
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If this is a crater, it rewrites what we know about Earth’s past impacts—and possibly past extinctions or climate shifts.
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The anomaly may be more than geological—it could be the fossil of a cosmic event that forever altered Earth’s fate.
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