Heritage sites, Archaeological discoveries, History of Archaeology

Vredefort Dome

Location

Vredefort Dome

Country

South Africa

Year of Research

2005

Culture

Vredefort Dome, approximately 120 km south-west of Johannesburg, is a delegate part of a larger meteorite impact structure, or astrobleme.
Dating back 2,023 million years, it is the oldest astrobleme yet establish on Earth.
With a radius of 190 km, it is also the largest and the most deeply worn.
Vredefort Dome bears witness to the world’s utmost known single energy release event, which had devastating global effects including, according to some scientists, major evolutionary changes.
It provides critical proof of the Earth’s geological history and is crucial to understanding of the development of the planet.
Despite the importance of impact sites to the planet’s history, geological activity on the Earth’s surface has led to the disappearance of proof from most of them, and Vredefort is the only example to provide a full geological profile of an astrobleme below the crater floor.