Armchair Detective: Casual Scroll of Google Maps Leads Man to Discovery of Massive Pit in Canada

A man's casual scrolling on Google Maps caused him to stumble upon a rare find. Joël Lapointe was planning to go on a camping trip in Quebec's Côte-Nord region, Daily Mail reported. He decided to check the location on Google Maps.

While looking at the area he came across a 'suspicious pit.' According to the information available from the site, the man was able to figure out that the pit was about fifteen kilometers in diameter. 

Lapointe also noted a ring of mountains roughly eight kilometers in diameter surrounding the nearby Marsal Lake in the 'suspicious' area, Daily Mail reported. The pit stood out to him and he decided to take the help of experts. The man contacted many experts including French geophysicist Pierre Rochette, who speculated that it could be the site of an ancient meteor crash. 

Ancient meteor crash happens when an object traveling thousands of miles per hour from space smashes with the surface, Daily Mail reported. These crashes create an impact crater in the area, as per researchers. According to experts, the whole phenomenon ends up releasing a flood of shockwaves that melt and recrystallize the rock in the particular area, which furthermore could lead to pits like the one found by Lapointe.

"Looking at the topography, it's very suggestive of impact," Rochette shared, Daily Mail reported. The geophysicist managed to get some samples from the site and found zircon in them. Zircon is a mineral that protects the area from microscopic damage after a meteor's impact.

Researchers claim that the evidence on hand implies that the crater was made by an ancient space rock, Daily Mail reported. Rochette added that if the pit does turn out to be an ancient crash site, it would be a huge find for the scientific community. Such sites have been rare to come by, and the last such discovery was made in 2013, Rochette added. 

These pits could date back millions or even a hundred million years, as per experts, Daily Mail reported. Researchers believe that these craters could provide information regarding the space.  "It could tell us about when it was delivered to Earth," Tara Hayden, a postdoctoral associate at Western University said. "That's the wonderful thing about impact craters. We get to have this link between Earth and the outside universe."