Archive · 5 Nov 2025
Mystery Australian Glass Blobs Reveal 11-Million-Year-Old Asteroid Impact
Imagine finding tiny, special glass marbles in the Australian desert.
For a long time, people thought these marbles came from a big space rock that hit Earth a long time ago, maybe somewhere else.
But recently, scientists looked closely at some of these marbles and found they were different.
These special marbles were actually made by a GIANT space rock that hit Australia 11 million years ago!
It was so big that it melted rocks, creating these glass beads and scattering them far and wide.
The strange part is, even though the impact was enormous, scientists can't find a giant hole in the ground, called a crater, where the rock must have landed.
These glass marbles are like tiny time capsules, telling us about a huge event that happened in Earth's past, a secret event hidden for millions of years.
Mysterious glass blobs found in South Australia, known as ananguites or australites, are proof of an asteroid impact.
Scientists have determined this impact occurred 11 million years ago.
A major puzzle is the absence of a detectable crater, despite the expected massive scale of the impact.
These glass beads were formed when an asteroid struck Earth, melting surface rock and scattering debris.
The findings suggest these australites originated from a separate impact event distinct from the one responsible for the Australasian strewnfield.
- Who
- Scientists, including geoscientist Anna Musolino and geochronologist Fred Jourdan
- What
- Discovered that mysterious glass blobs found in Australia are evidence of a massive asteroid impact 11 million years ago, despite the absence of a crater.
- When
- 11 million years ago (impact event); Recently (scientific discovery and publication)
- Where
- South Australia
- Why
- To understand the origin of unique glass beads (ananguites/australites) with distinct properties that did not match previous theories of meteorite impacts.
Original Belief
New Findings
Origin of Australian Glass Beads
Original Belief
Australian glass beads (australites) were previously believed to be from a large meteorite impact in Southeast Asia approximately 788,000 years ago.
New Findings
Specific, denser australites with different characteristics are now proven to have formed from a separate asteroid impact event in Australia 11 million years ago.
Crater Evidence
Original Belief
The massive impact event 11 million years ago should have left detectable mineral traces in a persistent crater.
New Findings
Despite the massive scale of the 11-million-year-old impact, no crater has been found in Australia.
- Age of Impact
- 11 million years ago
- Location of Impact Evidence
- South Australia
- Type of Evidence
- Glass blobs (ananguites/australites)
- Previous Belief about Impact
- Australasian strewnfield believed to be from an impact around 788,000 years ago
- Research Lead
- Anna Musolino, Aix-Marseille University
- Publication
- Earth & Planetary Science Letters