Although Ukraine is generally not as well known for its geology as its neighboring countries
due to how largely flat the country is, it does contain a number of geologic oddities.
This includes a large patch of sand dunes emplaced during the last ice age and mud volcanoes
within Crimea which are not true volcanoes as they are instead related to gasses released
by oil and natural gas.
However, just like Estonia, Ukraine also contains a surprisingly high number of impact craters.
Currently, 7 are known, and they are seemingly clustered in one small section of the country.
This is not because other parts of the country weren't similarly struck by asteroids or comets,
but rather because the rather old basement rock surrounding these 7 craters has allowed
for them to be preserved, as this region is geologically known as the "Ukrainian Shield".
The largest of these craters is known as Boltysh Crater, which although the original crater
formed by it is a little less than a kilometer below the modern surface, measures an impressive
24 kilometers or 14.9 miles wide.
And, more interestingly, this crater at one point was dated to within the margin of error
as the Cretaceous Paleogene mass extinction event 66 million years ago when a truly massive
asteroid impact just north of the Yucatan Peninsula caused the extinction of the non
avian dinosaurs.
So, was it possible that Boltysh Crater formed at the same time?
Although it was long considered a possibility, it was later discovered that Boltysh Crater
formed more than 600,000 years after this mass extinction event as it was dated to 65.39
million years old.
Despite this age difference, the impactor which created this massive crater in Ukraine
was still a highly destructive event for the recovering plant and animal life post mass
extinction.
Approximately 65.39 million years ago, a large asteroid was on a collision course with Earth.
This asteroid measured 1,675 meters or 5,495 feet wide and was a standard chondrite.
Chondrites are the most common and also the most primitive type of meteorites, as they
never underwent differentiation seen in larger asteroids.
Rather, they formed when particles of dust and rock clumped together during the early
stages of the solar system.
As this 8.5 billion metric ton mass of rock approached Earth, it continued to accelerate.
Entering the upper atmosphere, it was traveling at a speed of 17 kilometers per second or
38,000 miles per hour.
Mere moments later, this asteroid impacted the surface generating a massive explosion
equivalent in energy to the detonation of 294,000 megatons of tnt.
Due to the intense thermal radiation of the impact, everything within a 350 kilometer
radius of the impact site ignited.
Further out, to a distance of 415 kilometers, all trees were flattened facing outwards from
the blast by a shockwave which carried with it wind speeds of 145 kilometers per hour.
Expanding outwards, significant tree damage would occur in all directions out to a distance
of 650 kilometers.
Due to the impact, a magnitude 8.3 earthquake was generated, causing the entire region to
violently shake.
After the thick layer of pulverized rock settled, which in some areas was more than 1,000 feet
thick, a complex crater measuring 24 kilometer wide with a central peak became visible.
Despite the magnitude of the event which occurred on that day approximately 65 million years
ago, it did not seemingly cause any long term global impacts.
In fact, an asteroid or comet strike of a similar magnitude on Earth is believed to
occur about once every 2 million years as what formed Boltysh Crater.
Thanks for watching!
If you would like to request a specific topic, please leave a comment below.
Additionally, I would like to thank Robin Nichols for becoming a new patron on this
channel's Patreon page!