A massive crater beneath the North Sea was formed by a prehistoric asteroid impact, scientists have revealed.
The Silverpit crater, found 700 metres below the seabed approximately 80 miles off the Yorkshire coast, was created when a space rock roughly the size of Blackpool Tower struck Earth over 43 million years ago.
Seismic imaging conducted by researchers from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh has provided compelling evidence supporting the theory.
And their discovery resolves a scientific dispute which has raged for over two decades.
A massive crater beneath the North Sea was formed by a prehistoric asteroid impact
| GETTYGeologists had long debated whether the two-mile-wide crater was the result of an asteroid collision or a more mundane process involving salt rock movements.
The celestial object measured approximately 160 metres across when it plummeted into the prehistoric sea, generating a tsunami reaching heights of 100 metres.
The catastrophic event would have proved devastating for any early mammals inhabiting the region at the time.
Whilst significantly smaller than the six-to-nine-mile-wide asteroid responsible for the dinosaurs' extinction 66 million years ago, the Silverpit impact remains scientifically significant - not least because it is one of just 33 craters discovered beneath the waves.
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The celestial object measured approximately 160 metres across when it plummeted into the prehistoric sea - the size of the Blackpool Tower
| PAThe impact site spans two miles across and is encircled by a 12-mile-wide ring of circular faults.
Petroleum geoscientists first identified the formation in 2002 and took note of features typically associated with high-velocity impacts, including a central peak and distinctive circular configuration.
But an initial assessment faced significant scepticism from the scientific community.
During a 2009 Geological Society debate, participants voted overwhelmingly against the asteroid hypothesis, with 80 per cent favouring alternative explanations involving salt rock movements.
"I feel like I'm spoiling the party," said the University of Edinburgh's Professor John Underhill, who championed the doubters' position. "It's a less glamorous explanation, but that's what the scientific data is saying."
Dr Uisdean Nicholson, who led the recent investigation, recalled attending the debate as a doctoral student.
The impact site - off the Yorkshire coast - spans two miles across and is encircled by a 12-mile-wide ring of circular faults
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"Most people favoured the mundane explanation and I think that reflects a tendency to reject the more spectacular explanation," he said.
Describing the discovery as "definitely an exciting moment", Nicholson said the investigation was "a needle in the haystack approach".
Dr Nicholson added: "We can use these findings to understand how asteroid impacts shaped our planet throughout history, as well as predict what could happen should we have an asteroid collision in future."
The research received funding from the Natural Environment Research Council, with findings published in Nature Communications.