Geochemists at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) have discovered that meteorite impacts on Earth can have unexpected consequences, including volcanic eruptions.
The team also found that the explosions caused by the massive force of the space rocks are capable of bringing up material from deep below the surface.
The research involved examining the rocks in one of the biggest meteorite craters in the world located at Sudbury in Canada.
The deep bowl was formed 1.85 billion years ago when a large meteorite exploded as it hit the Earth's atmosphere.
The basin is not only filled with remnants of melted rock from the surface, but also contains a mixture of volcanic rock fragments.
Led by geochemists at TCD, the international team found those fragments had altered with time.
According to their research, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, the changes were not only caused by volcanic activity right after the meteorite impact, but also by volcanism caused by magma coming from deeper levels within the Earth later.
The finding suggests large impacts, such as those that took place during a short period after the Earth was formed, can be followed by intense, long-lived, and explosive volcanic eruptions.
"This is an important finding, because it means that the magma sourcing the volcanoes was changing with time," said Professor of Geology and Mineralogy at Trinity, Balz Kamber.
"The reason for the excitement is that the effect of large impacts on the early Earth could be more serious than previously considered."
It also prompts questions about whether volcanism may have been the cause of similar structures on Mercury, Venus, Mars and the Moon.
