Discovery of stromatolite formation in post-impact hydrothermal lacustrine environments and its implications for early Earth (opens in new tab)

Understanding asteroid-collision-generated extreme environments, including hydrothermal activity, is crucial for gaining insights into biological evolution on the early Earth. Here, we demonstrate that stromatolites—the oldest fossil evidence of oxygen-producing microbial life on early Earth—could have developed within impact craters, based on a detailed investigation of stromatolites and lake sediments in the Hapcheon impact crater, Korea. Our study revealed that the Hapcheon impact event oc...