Simple crater: The canonical formation

Meteor Crater in Arizona, also known as the Barringer Crater, was formed around 50,000 years ago during the Pleistocene epoch when a 100,000-ton iron-nickel meteorite traveling at roughly 26,000 miles per hour struck the Earth. The impact created a crater about 1.2 kilometers wide and 170 meters deep. The dry Arizona climate preserved it exceptionally well, making it one of the best-kept meteor impact sites on the planet. The land is privately owned by the Barringer family and includes a visitor

It took a decade for scientists to accept that an impact caused the dinosaur extinction...until the crater proved it. At the Younger Dryas boundary (~12,900 years ago), the same markers appear: iridium, platinum, and nanodiamonds. Those nanodiamonds are otherwise known only from the dinosaur extinction layer. When the signatures match, the question isn’t if something happened... it’s what we’re willing to acknowledge. | The Randall Carlson

80K views · 732 reactions | The world's oldest known meteorite impact crater has been discovered in the Pilbara. Researchers discovering the three and a half billion year old collision site not far from Marble Bar. | 7NEWS Regional WA | Facebook