The Massive Asteroid Impact in Central Australia

Подробнее о видео

#asteroid #comet #meteorite
Use code ozgeology at the link below to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan:

Gosses Bluff, located in the remote desert plains of the Northern Territory, is one of Australia’s most visually striking and scientifically significant geological formations. This video provides a comprehensive exploration of the Gosses Bluff impact structure — a vast, complex crater formed by the collision of an asteroid or comet with Earth approximately 142 million years ago during the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition. Although the outer rim of the original crater has long since been eroded away, the central uplift — a 5-kilometre-wide ring of rugged hills — remains as a dramatic and lasting reminder of one of the most powerful natural events in Australia’s geological history.

In this documentary-style feature, we delve into the detailed geology behind Gosses Bluff. We explore how the original impact crater would have been roughly 22 to 24 kilometres in diameter, with a shock wave that instantly vaporized the bolide and excavated a vast cavity in the Earth’s crust. The force of the impact caused the crust to behave like a fluid, rebounding to create a central uplift of ancient rock layers that were once buried 3 to 4 kilometres below the surface. These rocks were thrust upward in seconds, forming the structure that still dominates the landscape today. Through 3D diagrams, impact models, and satellite imagery, we reconstruct each phase of crater formation — from contact and compression to excavation, rebound, and final modification.

This video also explains how erosion and time transformed the landscape over the last 142 million years. The original crater walls collapsed inward, landslides and faulting reshaped the basin, and sediment eventually filled in the lower regions. Subsequent erosion stripped away these sediments and much of the original crater, leaving only the uplifted core exposed. Today, Gosses Bluff is a natural geological cross-section — a rare opportunity to study the internal structure of a complex impact crater from the surface. The central hills reveal tilted, faulted, and even overturned rock layers, offering a window into deep crustal deformation caused by hypervelocity impacts.

We also touch on how scientists have confirmed the impact origin of Gosses Bluff through the discovery of shatter cones, shocked quartz, impact melt rocks, and breccias within the uplift. These features are unmistakable signatures of a high-energy impact and are crucial to understanding the process of planetary cratering, not only on Earth but across the solar system. Gosses Bluff offers valuable insights into how similar structures may evolve on Mars, the Moon, and other rocky bodies — where many craters remain more intact due to the absence of erosion.

Whether you’re a student of Earth science, an amateur geologist, or simply curious about the dramatic forces that shape our planet, this video provides a compelling narrative backed by real science and awe-inspiring visuals. Learn why Gosses Bluff is more than just a ring of hills — it is the skeletal core of a long-destroyed crater, a monument to deep time, and a reminder of Earth’s vulnerability to cosmic impacts. From its explosive beginnings to its eroded present, Gosses Bluff tells one of the most fascinating stories in Australian geology.

This is the ultimate guide to Gosses Bluff, the science of impact cratering, and the geological legacy of asteroid collisions in Australia’s ancient landscape.

Thank you so much for watching!
If you are not in a position to donate, I totally understand! The biggest supporting factor that you engage in is to watch our videos all the way to the end (very important for helping us rank) and to share them around so please consider doing this so that Youtube recommends our channel more.

If you are in a position to support our channel on Youtube Membership or by joining our Patreon, the link to all of this can be found below:

🎥 If you would like to support this channel, consider joining our Patreon:


👉 You can also click the "join" button to join our Youtube channel's membership. Every contribution helps to create more videos.

Join this channel to get access to perks:


🌋 Subscribe to our Youtube Channel:

💥Link To Our Facebook:


🌏 About OzGeology
OzGeology is an Australian-based YouTube channel that specializes in creating high-quality documentaries on Earth sciences and natural disasters. The content is designed to be easy to digest and covers a wide range of topics, not only focusing on geology but occasionally exploring other scientific areas as well.