---
title: "A 100-Million-Year Mistake: How an Asteroid Impact in the US Triggered Mass Extinction"
description: "A new dating of the Oklahoma crater shifted its age by 100 million years. The asteroid struck 370 million years ago, coinciding with the Late Devonian extinction."
date: 2026-10-07T05:14:00.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/100-million-year-mistake-asteroid-us-extinction
tags: [astronomy, geology, asteroid, extinction, science, usa]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# A 100-Million-Year Mistake: How an Asteroid Impact in the US Triggered Mass Extinction

![Meteorite crater in Oklahoma linked to mass extinction](https://xab.info/media/2026/10/07/oshibka-na-100-millionov-let-asteroid-ssha-vymiranie/oshibka-na-100-millionov-let-asteroid-ssha-vymiranie-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- The age of the Oklahoma crater has been revised from 467 to 370 million years.
- The asteroid impact coincided in time with the Late Devonian mass extinction.
- The dating error occurred due to conodont teeth randomly trapped in the shattered rock.
- As a result of geological shifts, the crater area became a rich oil and gas deposit.

A meteorite crater hidden deep underground in Oklahoma, USA, for millions of years has long misled geologists. Recent large-scale studies have shown that the dating of this monumental cosmic catastrophe was off by roughly 100 million years, completely shifting the scientific understanding of its role in Earth's history.

### Redating the Ancient Cataclysm

The subsurface depression, measuring about 16 kilometers in diameter, was discovered back in 1991 using seismic surveying methods, as it is securely hidden beneath 2.7 kilometers of sedimentary rock. For a long time, the object's age was determined by a fossilized conodont tooth—an ancient eel-like creature. This methodology linked the impact to the Ordovician meteorite bombardment that occurred 467.5 million years ago. ### A Breakthrough in Mineral Analysis

However, a team of scientists led by Elizabeth Catlos from the University of Texas at Austin, in collaboration with specialists from NASA's Johnson Space Center, applied advanced analytical methods. The researchers examined zircon crystals using cathodoluminescence and electron backscatter diffraction, analyzing uranium-lead and thorium-lead decay. It turned out that the true age of the crater is about 370 million years. The fossilized conodont teeth had simply ended up in the shattered rock during the massive explosion.

### Link to the Late Devonian Extinction

It has been established that the collision occurred during the massive Late Devonian extinction period. The asteroid impact was not the sole factor in the crisis, but it could have acted as a powerful trigger accelerating the decline of ancient ecosystems. Among other causes, scientists cite ocean oxygen depletion, supervolcanism, and even a potential supernova explosion near the solar system. ### Geological and Economic Consequences

At the time of the asteroid impact 370 million years ago, the territory of modern Oklahoma was covered by a shallow sea, which explains the accumulation of the thick sedimentary layer. Furthermore, the cosmic impact left an economic footprint: the destruction of the Earth's crust created fractures through which oil and natural gas migrated into upper layers. Since 1991, 17.4 million barrels of oil and 2.25 billion cubic meters of gas have been extracted from the area.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- [Ошибка на 100 миллионов лет: как астероид в США повлек за собой массовое вымирание](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/pomilka-100-milyoniv-rokiv-k-asteroyid-ssha-1791297056.html) - Основной материал исследования кратера в Оклахоме и его новой датировки.
- [Пятое массовое вымирание: как астероид уничтожил мир динозавров](https://www.ixbt.com/live/science/pyatoe-massovoe-vymiranie-kak-asteroid-unichtozhil-mir-dinozavrov.html) - Контекстная информация по массовым вымираниям на Земле.

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: When was the crater in Oklahoma discovered?
**A:** The crater, about 16 kilometers in diameter, was discovered in 1991 using seismic surveying methods beneath a 2.7-kilometer layer of sedimentary rock.

### Q: Why did scientists make a mistake in dating the crater?
**A:** Initially, the age was determined from a fossilized tooth of an ancient creature—a conodont—which accidentally ended up in the shattered rock during the explosion and belonged to an earlier geological period.