Scientists from China discover meteorite crater on mountain range for the first time

The new Hailin crater is located in the northern mountains of Hailin city in Heilongjiang province in northeastern China. This crater, which has a diameter of 1,360 metres, has the shape of an elliptical scoop and was formed on the ridge of the mountain. 

The elevation difference between the highest point of the crater's edge and the lowest point at its centre exceeds 100 metres, creating the appearance of a large funnel-shaped depression on the ridge of one of the branches of the Changbai Mountains. This is reported by China Daily, a partner of TV BRICS.

"This impact occurred in the late Cenozoic Era, about hundreds of thousands of years ago," explained Chen Ming, a researcher at the Beijing-based Centre for High Pressure Science & Technology Advanced Research.

Meteorite craters on Earth are circular depressions formed by collisions with celestial bodies such as asteroids. According to experts from the Beijing-based Centre for High Pressure Science & Technology Advanced Research meteorites are not only an interesting natural phenomenon, but also an important basis for scientific space research.

So far, more than 200 meteorite craters have been identified and confirmed on Earth, but finds inside China are extremely rare, experts at the centre said.

The discovery deepens the understanding of the history of planetary impacts and opens new perspectives for studying the mechanisms of crater formation and specific landforms in China, experts said.