Many factors have been proposed to support and evaluate the approximate age of the earth. These factors some recent some very ancient depict a lot about the age of earth. Some depict that the earth is more than 1 million years old and this is more than any person would imagine. One of such factors is impact cratering.
There basically four types of impact craters namely: simple, complex, impact basins (multi-ring basins and irregular basins) and degraded craters. As the names suggest, these craters are formed depending on the nature of the impacting body, the type of impact and the original nature of the earth’s surface before the impact (Melos, 6).
In the past, impact cratering caused abrupt disequilibrium that resulted on tectonic movement. As a result, the molted lava in the area beneath impact zone tries to find its way out resulting in formation of eruption related features. With determining the age of these features, one can determine the age of earth. The impact area had also to change shape (lpi.usra.edu/education/explore/shaping_the_planets/impact_cratering.shtml).
In the present, these features affect geographical distribution of people and other factors. Some mining and other economic activities are also affected. Looking at some of the world’s most popular impact craters, the Barringer crater in Arizona and Chesapeake impact crater, have some evident effects on earth in the past and in the present. Some of these factors are: changes in the land surface structure, changes in mineral composition and tectonic movement in the earth’s crust. In present day, the earth’s surface has been greatly affected by mining of the minerals (Ruddy, 32).
Works cited
Ruddy, D. Meteor Crater, Arizona: summary of impact conditions. University of Arizona press, 1995 print.
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/explore/shaping_the_planets/impact_cratering.shtml
Melos, H. Impact cratering: A geologic process: New York, Oxford University Press, 1989 print.
