[2] Based on elemental anomalies, fossils, and minerals, which are interpreted to be derived from the impact, found in an ice core from the Siple Dome in Antarctica, it is argued that the impact which created the Mahuika crater occurred around 1443 AD,[3] but other sources have placed the date as 13 February 1491 AD.
[5][6] In 2010 a paper was published in Marine Geology which critically analysed Abbott's claims regarding the origin of the Mahuika crater.
The researchers determined that there was no evidence to indicate a comet created the crater, and therefore the possibility of an impact causing the tsunami was highly unlikely.
[7] A 2017 survey by the NIWA research vessel, RV Tangaroa, using a multibeam echosounder and a sub-bottom profiling system show no evidence for any crater-like feature in the position reported by Abbott and her colleagues.
Subsequent bathymetric data compilation and analysis, as part of The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, shows no crater-life features on the continental shelf of southern New Zealand.