What does the 'which' in 'after which refers to?

Question

at one time the surface broke apart as a result of repeated impacts, after which the fragments rejoined through mutual gravitational attraction.

I understand the sentence can be re-arrange as below:

at one time the surface broke apart as a result of repeated impacts,
which the fragments rejoined through mutual gravitational attraction after.

Can someone explain to me what does 'which' refers to here? I was told that 'which' cannot be use to refer to the whole clause so can the 'which' used here refers to the preceding clause? Or does it refers to 'the surface?
Thank you.

Ricky · Answer

It means "everything we described in the part of the sentence preceding the word after."
As in:

At one time the surface broke apart as a result of repeated impacts,
after which [i.e. after the surface broke apart as a result of
repeated impacts] the fragments rejoined through mutual gravitational
attraction.

Gawdzacula · Answer

Whatever event is being referenced that precedes "after which". "Which" is used to indicate a distinction being made between two or more things being discussed. The first thing would be the one "which" came before the next thing (the thing that comes "after")

Answered by Gawdzacula on February 8, 2021

What does the 'which' in 'after which refers to?

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