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Vredefort Dome
Located approximately 120 km southwest of Johannesburg, the Vreedefort Dome is a representative section of a large meteorite impact structure (or crater). Dating back to 2.023 billion years ago, it is the oldest crater ever discovered on Earth. With a radius of 190 km, it is also the largest and most deeply eroded. The Vreedefort Dome witnessed the world's largest known single energy release event, which had devastating effects around the globe, including, according to some scientists, major evolutionary changes. It provides key evidence for the Earth's geological history and is essential for understanding the evolution of the Earth. Despite the importance of impact sites to Earth history, geological activity on the Earth's surface has caused evidence for most impact sites to disappear, with Vreedefort being the only example that provides a complete geological section of a star-shaped crater below the crater floor.
Stevns Klint
The geological site includes a 15-kilometer-long fossil-rich coastal cliff that provides exceptional evidence for the Chicxulub meteorite impact at the end of the Cretaceous period, approximately 65 million years ago. Researchers believe this caused the largest mass extinction event ever recorded on Earth, resulting in the loss of more than 50% of life on Earth. The site preserves a record of the ash cloud created by the meteorite impact—the exact location is off the coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. An exceptional fossil record can be seen at the site, showing a complete succession of fauna and microfauna following the mass extinction, documenting the process of species recovery.