Original Title: 2950 Feet Wide: Earth’s Largest Modern Crater Discovered in China

Overview

The Jinlin crater, about 900 meters in diameter (roughly 2,950 feet), is a recently identified, exceptionally well-preserved Holocene impact structure in Guangdong Province, China. It stands as the largest known Holocene crater and provides new insights into recent extraterrestrial impacts on Earth.

Discovery and Location

Located on a hillside in Zhaoqing, the crater is sealed within a thick crust of weathered granite, preserving evidence of its formation during the Holocene epoch, which began roughly 11,700 years ago after the last ice age. Its discovery adds to the small set of confirmed terrestrial impact sites—estimated at around 200 globally.

Size and Comparison

With a diameter of 900 meters, Jinlin surpasses Russia’s Macha crater, which measures about 300 meters across and was previously the largest known Holocene crater. This makes Jinlin the largest known Holocene impact crater to date.

Age Estimation

Researchers estimate the crater formed in the early-to-mid Holocene based on local soil erosion data, placing its creation within a window after the end of the last Ice Age.

Significance

The discovery indicates that the scale of impacts by small extraterrestrial objects during the Holocene may be greater than previously recorded, offering valuable data on the frequency and intensity of recent meteoritic collisions with Earth.

Notable Quotes

“This discovery shows that the scale of impacts of small extraterrestrial objects on the Earth in the Holocene is far greater than previously recorded.”

— Ming Chen, author.

Author’s Summary

New Holocene crater Jinlin in Guangdong, China, at 900 m across, is the largest known Holocene impact site, revealing higher-than-expected recent impact activity and preserving well the geological record within granite.

SciTechDaily — 2025-11-20