00:00A crater buried beneath the North Sea was made by an asteroid, scientists have confirmed.
00:05Computer models suggest the impact sent a tsunami more than 100 meters high across the sea.
00:10The Silver Pit crater lies about 700 meters below the seabed, 80 miles off Yorkshire, England.
00:17It formed roughly 43 to 46 million years ago.
00:20Scientists had argued over its origin since its discovery in 2002.
00:25In 2009, most geologists in a vote rejected the asteroid idea.
00:30Now, rock samples from a nearby oil well have settled the debate.
00:34They held shocked quartz and feldspar.
00:36Crystals only extreme impact pressure can create.
00:39Models show a 160-meter asteroid struck the seabed at a low angle from the west.
00:44Within minutes, a 1.5-kilometer curtain of rock and water rose, then collapsed into the sea.
00:50The study appears in the journal Nature Communications.
00:53Silver Pit now joins the shortlist of confirmed impact craters on Earth.
00:58This video contains stock footage and content created or enhanced using AI-assisted tools.
