Untold trillion of years ago , ameteoritefell from the sky and off a stack stove in northeastern China , cause it to separate into two peaks . New research claims reveal the body structure of the impact site for the first time .

The crater is locate in Jilin province , near China ’s border with North Korea . The impact was so large , around 1.6 kilometers ( 1 stat mi ) widely , that it leave alone two deal peaks , which are live as Front Baijifeng and Rear Baijifeng .

Historically , the grounds for meteorite impacts in China has been quite humbled compared to other share of the world . But rock fragments identify at Baijifeng Mountain caught the interest of investigator at the Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research in Shanghai .

The team , go by Ming Chen and Ho - Kwang Mao , were attract by unmatched sandstone stone topically referred to as “ celestial stone ” , which had unnamed origins . However , through their analysis , Chen and Mao found something surprising – the name is more than apposite .

“ We set out to find out the real story behind this accrual of rock sherd ” , the author write . “ Our investigation has break for the first fourth dimension the presence of an encroachment structure on Baijifeng Mountain . ”

The rock fragments are made of sandstone and granite , both of which contain small lechatelierite mineral . When struck by heating plant and press , quartz can strain in specific ways . These deformations , the authors explicate , are “ wide accepted as symptomatic evidence for electric shock metamorphism and terrestrial impact body structure . ” Essentially , “ electric shock metamorphism ” in quartz glass can indicate meteorite impact sites .

“ During the impact cratering , ” they add , “ a turgid amount of rock would have been dig up and ejected to form this new geological structure . The hit would have greatly change the original terrain of the target , forming two Modern peaks , namely , Front Baijifeng and Rear Baijifeng . ”

According to the authors , the granite in the volcanic crater was formed between 150 and 172 million years ago , during the Jurassic Period . If a meteorite did hit the mountain , then it must have done so after this period . Unfortunately , the exact timing remains unknown , though the authors suggest it could be much later .

This is free-base on a compare of the Baijifeng site with one of the few other impingement sites in China – the Yilan crater in Harbin , Heilongjiang Province . This crater was formed around 49,000 years ago and is the largest known wallop crater that is less than 100,000 yr old , perLive Science .

According to Chen and colleagues , the Yilan volcanic crater has been strongly weathered in ways that are comparable to Baijifeng , which means the age of the latter “ should not be far from that of the Yilan impact structure . ”

Nevertheless , further workplace is postulate to corroborate when the falling celestial stone make such incredible changes to the mountain face .

“ The Baijifeng corrie - shape low is a well - preserved wallop structure with unequaled morphological equipment characteristic , and its locating at the top of a high-pitched mountain creates striking natural scene ” the authors close .

The work is published inMatter and Radiation at Extremes .