Asteroid that struck the North Sea 46 million years ago created a 100-meter tsunami

Scientists have confirmed that the Silverpit Crater beneath the North Sea was created by a 160-meter-wide asteroid striking Earth 43 to 46 million years ago, triggering a tsunami over 100 meters high. The impact blasted a 1.5-kilometer curtain of rock and water into the air. Researchers led by Dr. Uisdean Nicholson of Heriot-Watt University found shocked quartz and feldspar crystals, proving the impact hypothesis beyond doubt after decades of debate. The findings, published in Nature Communications, establish Silverpit as one of only about 33 confirmed underwater impact craters on Earth. The exceptionally preserved site offers rare opportunities to study subsurface impact effects and inform future asteroid collision predictions.