An international team of researchers from the Advanced High Pressure and Technology Research Center in Shanghai has identified a giant impact crater formed by a meteorite millions of years ago. The discovery emerged after extensive fieldwork in northeastern China, combining rock sampling, seismic hints, and thorough structural mapping. The findings illustrate how collaborations between high pressure experiments and geological surveys can illuminate Earth’s distant past. The researchers did not rely on superficial impressions alone; deep drilling and careful analyses revealed a circular feature concealed beneath layers of sediment.
Geologists name the crater Hailin and place it in the northern reaches of the Changbai Mountain range, a border region in the northeast of the country. The exposed depression broadens to roughly 1,360 meters and sinks about 183 meters below the surrounding terrain. The shape is notably oval, a characteristic often produced when a space rock strikes at a shallow angle or under a high-energy, oblique encounter. The bedrock shows mixed lithologies, suggesting rapid ejection and complex underground fracturing during the event.
The impact would have unleashed an energy pulse on a nuclear-scale level, generating a powerful shock wave that ejected vast quantities of rock and ignited fires across the landscape. The resulting debris field and melt signatures align with crater dimensions and the observed fracture networks, reinforcing the interpretation of a cosmic origin for this feature.
Traces of the asteroid’s impact were concealed by sedimentary rocks, which is why the evidence stayed hidden for so long. Only after targeted geological surveying did researchers begin to see a pattern of shocked minerals, fractured bedrock, and an oval basin aligned with regional faults. The sediment cover acted like a time capsule, preserving hints of the event without immediate recognition of its source. Modern stratigraphic work allowed scientists to piece together the sequence that led from a skyborne rock to the present topography.
Dating efforts are ongoing, but the team estimates the crater formed well after the Miocene epoch, with timing lying in the late Cenozoic. What is clear is that the event occurred more than 20 million years ago, placing it in a period of significant climatic shifts and evolving landscapes in northeast Asia. The absence of younger deformation on the crater rim supports the idea that erosion and sedimentation have gradually altered the outline since the moment of formation.
The oval structure sits high on a plateau near 900 meters above sea level, perched over a mosaic of loess, volcaniclastics, and evergreen forest. The elevated position has helped preserve delicate rim features on the western and southern edges, while the eastern section shows signs of collapse. The cool, variable climate has shaped the overlying sediments that shield the crater from rapid erosion, and the height records a distinct history of regional tectonics and hydrology that differs from lowland impact sites.
Although part of the eastern edge is missing due to unknown geological processes, the remaining sides are largely intact. The perimeter preserves the transition from original rim to surrounding terrain, with a few fault lines signaling post-formation displacements. This level of preservation enables researchers to reconstruct ejecta distribution, crater floor morphology, and the interplay between the crater and neighboring basins.
Inside the hollow, investigators found a layered sediment fill interlaced with crushed rock and glassy fragments. The sediment record points to a former lake that once occupied the crater, gradually shrinking as the eastern wall failed and the basin drained. The desiccation left behind minerals and micro remnants that serve as a window into late prehistoric hydrology and climate, helping scientists understand how impact structures interact with local groundwater and surface water networks.
Researchers emphasize that the Hailin crater and other large impact features illustrate Earth’s potential to experience such cosmic events again over geological timescales. This prompts broader discussion about near-Earth object monitoring, impact risk modeling, and the long-term effects of large strikes on regional geology, climate, and landscape evolution. It also underscores the dynamic relationship between Earth and its celestial neighborhood.
Earlier investigations have identified a multi-kilometer crater on the Atlantic Ocean floor created by an asteroid event, highlighting the global reach of meteor impacts and providing a comparative frame for how target rocks, water depth, and crustal responses differ across environments. Taken together, these discoveries enrich the wider narrative of how Earth records extraterrestrial collisions and how such events shape geology over millions of years.