“Over millions of years, material from this ring gradually fell to Earth, creating the spike in meteorite impacts observed in the geological record,” said Tomkins in a statement that accompanied the paper’s release. “We … see that layers in sedimentary rocks from this period contain extraordinary amounts of meteorite debris.”

During a tumultuous period for our planet around 466 million years ago, Earth was pelted with meteorites and rocked by tsunamis. But geologists have uncovered some strange things about this moment in history.

Earth and Saturn might be a lot more similar than previously thought. In a new study, a team of researchers suggests that 466 million years ago, a ring system made up of asteroid remnants may have surrounded our planet,

Researchers have found evidence suggesting that our planet may have once had a ring system around 466 million years ago.

Earth may have had a Saturn-like ring system long ago, created from the debris of a passing asteroid that our planet tore apart.

The ring would have gradually fallen to Earth as meteorites, correlating to a spike of impacts seen in the geological record.

And now, a new study published in the scientific journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters seems to show that Earth itself once had a similar ring. The new study asserts that Earth's ring formed around 466 million years ago and stuck around for around 40 million years before dissipating.

C ould Earth once have had a planetary ring like the ones around Saturn? Scientists from Monash University in Australia think so. In a recent paper they identify 450m-year-old craters that lie close to Earth’s historical equator.

Scientists have concluded that the Earth may have had a ring system similar to Saturn's based on the analysis of the location of craters on our planet. Scientists claim that over 450 million years ago,