Led by Curtin University geologists Chris Kirkland and Tim Johnson, a research team unearthed this primeval crater beneath rock layers in the East Pilbara Terrane of Western Australia. The oldest Archaean crater before this discovery went back only 2.2 billion years.

The find could hold implications for understanding the origin of life here on Earth.

Researchers say they have found "unequivocal evidence" that a meteorite smashed into Earth 3.47 billion years ago, potentially affecting plate tectonics and creating conditions for life.

The oldest meteorite impact crater on Earth (3.5 billion years old) has been discovered in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

A rocky stretch in Western Australia's Pilbara, near Earth's earliest-confirmed lifeforms, was hit by a meteorite about 3.5 billion years ago.

It was a respectable tenure, but the world’s oldest known meteorite site is no longer western Australia’s 2.2 billion-year-old, 43-mile-wide Yarrabubba crater. Researchers at Curtin University and the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA) say the new recordholder is located about 660 miles north in the country’s Pilbara region.

Scientists published the discovery of a 3.5-billion-year-old meteorite impact crater, making it the oldest known by more than a billion years.