How old is Meteor Crater in Arizona?
Meteor Crater was formed about 50,000 years ago during the Pleistocene epoch. At that time the Colorado Plateau had a cooler, damper climate and was home to mammoths and giant ground sloths.
Questions about Meteor Crater
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What is the size of Meteor Crater?
Meteor Crater is about 1,200 meters in diameter and roughly 170 meters deep. Its rim rises 45 meters above the surrounding plains, and the crater floor holds 210 to 240 meters of rubble above the bedrock.
Who owns Meteor Crater?
Meteor Crater remains privately owned by the Barringer family through their Barringer Crater Company. Daniel M. Barringer received a land patent signed by Theodore Roosevelt for 640 acres around the crater in 1903, and the family has retained ownership ever since.
What is the Canyon Diablo meteorite?
The Canyon Diablo meteorite is the official name for the fragments of the nickel-iron impactor that created Meteor Crater. They are named after Canyon Diablo, Arizona, the closest post office to the impact site, following the convention of naming meteorites after a nearby location.
How was Meteor Crater proven to be an impact crater and not a volcano?
In 1960, geologist Eugene M. Shoemaker and Edward C. T. Chao identified coesite and stishovite at the crater. These rare minerals form only under the instantaneous overpressure of an impact event and cannot be produced by volcanic action, providing definitive chemical proof of an extraterrestrial impact.
Did NASA astronauts train at Meteor Crater?
Yes, NASA astronauts trained at Meteor Crater during the 1960s and 1970s to prepare for the Apollo missions to the Moon. Field training for astronauts at the site continues to the present day.