The world's oldest recorded asteroid impact has been discovered, revealing new evidence of Earth's violent history.Scientists have long suspected that the North Pole Dome in Western Australia's Pilbara region was the site of an ancient catastrophe.Now, researchers have uncovered the first rock–solid evidence that provides an exact date for the impact.Using advanced mineral dating techniques, they show that the crater was formed when a space rock smashed into Earth 3.02 billion years ago.While billions of years of erosion have wiped away much of the evidence, this impact was substantial enough to leave a lasting legacy on Earth.Lead author Professor Chris Kirkland told the Daily Mail that this meteor could have been a 'kilometre–scale' object, although its precise size is impossible to determine.He said: 'At North Pole Dome, the impact appears to have generated a long–lived fractured system that was later reused by fluids.'On the early Earth, that kind of process could have influenced chemical exchange between rocks and an early ocean, causing mineral alteration and potentially modifying the environments available for microbial life.' Scientists have revealed that the North Pole Dome in Western Australia's Pilbara region (pictured) is the oldest asteroid impact crater on Earth