A probable crater stretching more than 370 miles, or 600 kilometers, across the heart of Australia could reshape our understanding of Earth's geological history.

Researcher Daniel Connelly and Virginia Commonwealth University's Arif Sikder, Ph.D., believe they have found evidence to support the existence of MAPCIS—the Massive Australian Precambrian-Cambrian Impact Structure—which is a nonconcentric complex crater that could provide new insights into the geological and biological evolution of our planet.

"Working on the MAPCIS project has been an incredible journey," said Sikder, an associate professor in the Center for Environmental Studies, a unit of VCU Life Sciences. "The data we've gathered offers a unique glimpse into the forces that have shaped our planet, and I'm excited about the future research this discovery will inspire."

This month, Connelly will make a presentation in Anaheim, California, at Connects 2024, the Geological Society of America's annual meeting. In August, he presented at the 37th International Geological Congress (IGC 2024) in Busan, South Korea.

According to researchers, the impact occurred at the end of the Ediacaran period, within the Neoproterozoic Era, which spans from 1 billion to 538.8 million years ago.

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