Yilan crater discovered in China.

Why in news?

• A team of geologists have discovered a crater named “Yilan Crater”, in northwest of Yilan in Heilongjiang Province of China.
• Prior to 2020, only one impact crater “Xiuyan Crater” was discovered in Liaoning province, despite China’s large land area.
• Then, in 2021, Yilan crater was discovered in heavily forested Lesser Xing’an mountain range. The local residents knew it as “Quanshan,” or “circular mountain ridge.”

Characteristics of Yilan crater

• Yilan crater is slightly larger than Xiuyan and spans about 1.85 kilometers.
• Thus, it is the largest crater on Earth under 100,000 years old. Carbon-14 dating sediments suggests that, this crater was formed between 46,000 and 53,000 years ago.
• Meteor or Barringer crater in Arizona is also around 50,000 years old. However, its diameter is 1.2 kilometers.