In 1960, geologist Eugene Shoemaker proved that Meteor Crater in Arizona was formed by the impact of a meteorite rather than being a naturally occurring geological feature. He identified shocked quartz and other geological signatures at the site that could only form from a high-speed impact, settling earlier doubts about whether meteorites had struck Earth in recent geological history.
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The hosts note that Meteor Crater is less than 100,000 years old, recent on a geological timescale.
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Before Shoemaker's work, there was widespread doubt that meteorite impacts still occurred on planets in recent times.
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6:54>> which are all around us today. We're moving to astrophysics in 1960. Proof of impact cratering. >> Yes, we talk about the meteor crater in Arizona a lot on this podcast. >> In 1960 was when Eugene Shoemaker first confirmed that the meteor crater came from a meteor and it wasn't some innate geological feature of Earth. Before this, there was a lot of doubt about whether meteors even in recent times would come and strike planets. The meteor crater in Arizona is less than 100,000 years old. Okay, so it's quite recent in the geological time scale. Um,
7:37he discovered like shocked quartz and all of these other geological features that could only have happened if there was a meteorite coming into Earth. Very big deal.