78 Million Years Ago, an Asteroid Hit Earth. Then Life Grew in The Crater

78 million years ago, a 1.6 km asteroid slammed into what is now Finland, creating a crater 23 km (14 mi) wide and 750 km deep. The catastrophic impact created a fractured hydrothermal system in the shattered bedrock under the crater.

There's evidence from other impact structures that in the aftermath of a collision, life colonized the shattered rock and heated water that flowed through it. But determining when the colonization happened is challenging.

New research shows for the first time exactly when that colonization happened. A team of researchers has zeroed in on the date that microbial life populated the hydrothermal system under the 78 million year old Lappajärvi impact structure .

Their research is titled " Deep microbial colonization during impact-generated hydrothermal ci