However, the circularity of its shape has been disputed, with a 2018 study finding that the northeastern and southwestern sections of the lake rim were straight, corresponding to the directions of regional faulting.

However, a 2018 study concluded that the formation of the lake could be better explained by the subsidence of the underlying basement fault blocks, and that the southern part of the rim had been anthropogenically shaped.

[3] Master estimates the age of the crater to be less than 5000 years old, or between 2000 and 3000 BC,[2] due to the deposition of sediments of the Tigris-Euphrates plain as a result of the 130–150 km (81–93 mi) seaward progradation[6] of the Persian Gulf during that time period.

[5] It has been proposed that sudden climate changes and catastrophic events around 2200 BCE (including the collapse of the Sumerian civilisation) could be linked to a comet or asteroid impact.

[5][7][8][9][10][11] Master[4][5] has conjectured that the alleged Umm al Binni impact could be responsible for this catastrophe, producing the energy equivalent to thousands of Hiroshima-sized bombs.