How a Massive Asteroid Slammed Into the North Sea and Unleashed a 330-Foot Tsunami

A crater beneath the seabed

Silverpit lies about 700 meters below the seabed in the southern North Sea, roughly 80 miles off Yorkshire, England. The crater is about three kilometers across, within a wider area of circular faults spanning 20 kilometers.

Its near-circular outline, raised central peak and surrounding fault rings suggested an impact to some researchers. Others argued that underground salt movement or volcanic activity could explain the formation.

Years of competing explanations

Scientists identified Silverpit in 2002, but its origin remained disputed. In 2009, geologists voted on competing explanations, and most rejected the asteroid-impact theory, according to Geoscientist magazine. A team led by Dr. Uisdean Nicholson of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh combined improved seismic imaging with microscopic analysis of rock samples. The findings were published in Nature Communications.

Minerals reveal extreme pressure

The strongest evidence came from tiny quartz and feldspar crystals in rock cuttings from an oil well near the crater. Researchers found them at the same depth as the crater floor, and their internal structures had been changed by intense pressure.

Nicholson said the crystals had a fabric that could only form under extreme shock pressures. He described finding them as a “needle-in-a-haystack” effort and said they supported the impact explanation beyond doubt.