 |
By Ko Dong-hwan
A colossal meteor crashed into earth approximately 215 million years ago, a Japanese research team said in a recent release.
The team's discovery stated that the meteor had a diametrical length within a range between 3.3 kilometers and 7.8 kilometers and weighed about 500 billion tons.
It also stated that its original crash site was the very 100 kilometer-wide crater in the province of Quebec, Canada, also known to have been formed 215 million years ago.
Japanese media outlet NHK broadcast on Tuesday that the team found from Gifu prefecture and Oita prefecture traces of osmium, a mineral believed to be an alien metallic element.
The team subsequently discovered that the mineral's date of origin is the same as that of the crater in Quebec. This led to their conclusion that the osmium discovered in Japan had possibly been transmitted through midair from the crater via upper layers of the atmosphere.
The team also presumed that the meteor crash might have caused the extinction of the mammal-like reptiles which had happened approximately 200 million to 237 million years ago.
![[REVIEW] 'The ODD Of LOVE' concert: Taeyeon shows why she is among K-pop's top vocalists](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/e385d0918b054c1286a1cfaa3142439e.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] 'One Day Off' star Lee Na-young, director on creating subtle, feel-good series](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/796618f56a44402eabe81fe4530ab988.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
