Worldwide Impact Craters

thorbiorn

The Living Force
FOTCM Member
Impact craters that were made in the past are also a part of our history.

Having read an entry at a blog by Aeneas While the earth rumbles I began looking for craters and found that
The Planetary and Space Science Centre
Department of Geology
University of New Brunswick
2 Bailey Drive
Fredericton
New Brunswick E3B 5A3
Canada
has as Web site where one can go and see impact craters:
_Planetary and Space Science Centre | UNB

There is one page for the main Continents. If one clicks for example Asia, a page opens with a map and some red spots. By cliking the red spot a new page opens with information of location and a picture. Looking at these old craters makes one keenly aware of what can happen in the future.

The link to the above I found on this site: _MethodShop
It describes a person who looked at Google Earth and found two new impact craters. Maybe we can find some more.

Edit 20071010:
Impact Structures listed by Name:
_Planetary and Space Science Centre | UNB
Impact Structures listed by Age (Increasing):
_Planetary and Space Science Centre | UNB
Impact Structures listed by Diameter:
_Planetary and Space Science Centre | UNB

thorbiorn
 
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Yes, there are some good sites about craters. I initially just concentrated on craters from recent history and found that there were a surprising lot of them, which should give reason to pause before putting Nuclear Power plants up around the place. But that is another story.

Below are some of the other ones I found with links to pictures and data. BP means before present time.

2007 Carancas meteor, Peru. Impact crater of 30 meters in diameter and 6 meters deep.

1947 Russia Sikhote-Alin_Meteorite. The strewn field for this meteorite covered an elliptical area of about 1.3 km2. Some of the fragments made craters, the largest of which was about 26 m across and 6 m deep. Fragments of the meteorite were also driven into the surrounding trees.

1908 Russia Tunguska. It felled an estimated 60 million trees over 2,150 square kilometers

1863 or 1891 Saudi Arabia Wabar_craters 3 craters have been found with diameters ranging from 11 – 116 meters. The largest fragment was recovered in a 1965 visit to Wabar and weighs 2.2 tonnes.
See images and details here

~1000+ Haviland crater, Kansas. 15 meters in diameter. More here

~1000+ Sobolev Crater, Far Eastern Russia. 53 meters in diameter. More here

534/5 AD A giant meteor or similar which likely catapulted the Northern hemisphere into a nuclear style winter.
This article tells of a world wide catastrophe around year 535 AD:
''The disaster coincided with a deepening of the Dark Ages - and appears to mark a turning point in human history,'' he said. Ancient chroniclers recorded that the sun ''became dim'' and ''its darkness lasted for 18 months''.
The crops failed in Italy, Mesopotamia, China, the British Isles and elsewhere - and terrible famines, plague and war broke out causing long-term economic and urban decline. In some parts of China, 70-80 per cent of the population died.
The cosmic explanation is probably the front runner - because a large volcanic eruption would normally leave an acid ''signature'', detectable in ice cores obtained from deep within the Greenland ice-cap.”
More on the climate changes reported worldwide at that time can be found here.

1900 – 4200 BP (Before Present (BP)Henbury craters , Australia, 12-14 craters ranging in size from 7 – 157 meters in Diameter. More links here, here and here

~ 2500BP Chiemgau Craters, Germany. 100+ craters ranging in size from 3 – 400metres in diameter. More details here, here and here.

2400 – 2800 BP Kaalijarv craters, Estonia. 9 Known craters, ranging from 13 – 110 meters in Diameter. More Here

~4500 BP (est.) Al'Amarah (Iraq) Impact Crater. Diameter of 3km.

4000-6000 BP Campo del Cielo craters Argentina(20) More details here

6600 BP Ilumetsa craters, Estonia. Image and more details here

<7000 BP Macha Craters (5), Russia. The largest 300mtrs in diameter.

10000 BP Morasko craters, (8 craters ), Poland. Largest crater diameter of 100meters. Links here and here

10000 BP Rio Cuarto craters, (10) Argentina. Largest crater diameter of 4.5 kilometers. Links here

10000 – 30000 BP Iturralde crater, Bolivia. Diameter of Crater 8km. Much is pointing to it being an impact crater, but somehow the evidence gathered by scientists from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center’s field expedition in 2002 appear not to be fast moving.

10000 – 50000 BP Bender Crater, Montana. Diameter 1.6 km wide. Discovered 2007 and yet to be analyzed closer.

13000 Carolina Bays craters, (500,000+ craters ). The book “The cycle of Cosmic catastrophes (2006)” does a great job in presenting the material and discussing the various theories about the origin.

9700 – 21400 BP Tenoumer craters, Mauritania. Link here and here

Aeneas
 
Aeneas said:
Yes, there are some good sites about craters. I initially just concentrated on craters from recent history and found that there were a surprising lot of them, which should give reason to pause before putting Nuclear Power plants up around the place. But that is another story.
Apologies to all for this thread drift, but Aeneas brings up the topic of nuclear power plant placement. Of note, the recent post quake fire and leakage at the Japanese nuclear facility, which was built directly atop a known tectonic fault line. This has its American counterpart, the Diablo Canyon nuclear facility, in California, which is located, dead center on the San Andreas fault.

What goes on in the minds of those who choose such locations?
 
Aneas's post had some links to Cassiopedia and indeed there are also:
Impact crater
List of impact craters on Earth

Some news about Tunguska which is later than the last edit on Cassiopedia: http://www.unb.ca/passc/News/index.html
June 26, 2007
The Tunguska Mystery may be close to a resolution. Researchers think that a meteorite was responsible for the damage caused in June, 1908. Lake Cheko may hold the key to the mystery. "When we looked at the bottom of the lake, we measured seismic waves reflecting off of something," said Giuseppe Longo.
The whole article can be found with pictures on: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070626_st_tunguska_crater.html

thorbiorn
 
Thinking about Craters and Google Earth, and to facilitate the viewing, I reduced the Google Earth window, and lined up a reduced version of the Firefox next to it with the page open on the site which has the crater coordinates.

Then I took the coordinates for one crater in Russia, Logancha and cliked in until the coordinates matched. When they did to my surprise there popped up a window, which is a resume of a Wikipedia article describing the Logancha crater, of which however there is nothing to see on the surface, due to geological transformations over time, as it is an old impact.

Then I tried the same with the newer Wahab crater in Saudi Arabia. When I got closer, the Wikipage became available. Only one does not see much, possibly it is too small.

Last I went for the Lonar crater in India which has a diameter of 1.83 km and here you really can see something.


thorbiorn
 
thorbiorn said:
Some news about Tunguska which is later than the last edit on Cassiopedia: http://www.unb.ca/passc/News/index.html
June 26, 2007
The Tunguska Mystery may be close to a resolution. Researchers think that a meteorite was responsible for the damage caused in June, 1908. Lake Cheko may hold the key to the mystery. "When we looked at the bottom of the lake, we measured seismic waves reflecting off of something," said Giuseppe Longo.
The whole article can be found with pictures on: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070626_st_tunguska_crater.html

thorbiorn
For those who read SOTT on a regular basis the article can be found here ;)
 
A note to Google watching: On the _http://www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase pages with the continent maps one can also find a links to Google Earth; however the Wikepedia link does not come up. Also if one takes the trouble and goes there though the free version of Google Earth the coordinates are given with higher precision than in the database, and the maps are newer, although for old craters this is not of great importance.

On the Cassiopedia crater website the origin of the word crater is given as: Krater, a Greek vessel used to mix wine and water (the original meaning) Rather interesting, and one can associate to words that sound similar like creator. In any case a crater is created whether from inside (as in a vulcanic) or from outside.

thorbiorn
 
There is a Web page with an application that allows one to see approximately, what would happen if a space object crashed into the Earth or another planet.
_http://janus.astro.umd.edu/cgi-bin/astro/impact/impact.pl One selects the variables like composition, speed, and size, then clicks 'Kaboom' and a result appears. If the variables one has selected correspond to a known impact crater, a picture of the crater comes up.
 
Here's a theory I don't have the Software nor expertise to model and test properly but I'll share it anyway. If you can use it you're welcome to it.
If we think of the earth and moon as a two part, or binary gravity well, then it is safe to assume that objects entering that system should divide in a ratio that is proportionate to the sizes of the attractors. Our earth has six times the moons pull, so it takes six times as many hits. You can count the craters on the moon. Multiply that times six and that's how many you should be able to find here. This confirms what modern astronomy has to say about the number and frequency of hits. But if you talk to a geologist about erosion rates you rapidly begin to see that there are an awful lot of missing impact sites. There should be many more of them in really good shape. The only way for both sciences to be correct is if the models of what an impact structure should look like are off. Maybe the pretty round craters aren't the only impact structure we should be looking for.

Most of the simulations I seen so far are like trying to simulate a bullet wound by shooting at a frozen cadaver. Because they're based on what we see happening on frozen worlds like the Moon or Mars. with little or no atmosphere. So let's try a little thought experiment. Imagine a dense bolide a mile wide hitting the surface with enough force to punch through the bedrock But due to it's density it doesn't reach enough compression to produce a rock vapor explosion until at the bottom of the hole it makes. Now hold that picture in your mind while I digress. You know how the steam bubbles in a cup of cappuccino will instantly condense into the liquid without any bubbles coming to the surface and leaving only their heat behind? Well, if it's possible that the earth (this is the part I haven't had a chance to test) can absorb the heat fast enough that the rock vapor re-condenses without exploding out then the impact structure would consist of first, a puncture fracture in the bedrock at the point of entry into the ground. Then, a circular uplift fracture from the vapor detonation. the uplift colapses back into the melt forcing some of it back out of the hole in a finger shaped plume That falls away from the direction of impact. the result after the dust has settled, should be an oval compression wave in the surface material from the atmospheric disturbance and impact shock, with the melt plume coming from the impact hole. No crater. And since erosion tends to follow and map out the cracks that signature shape should be visible for many millions of years.

It only needs for the heat transfer possibility to be confirmed because you can find that signature shape in a bewildering array of sizes and orientations. And in all types of rock all over the world. I'd be really interested to see if others get the same result I did.
 
We've been reading lots lately about the Younger Dryas Impact event and in particular the 'shotgun blast' of disintegrating comets as opposed to complete comets impacting the earth. Both obviously occurred but in regards to the YD, the latter seems less likely.

There have apparently been a few new supportive studies published recently that have created quite a controversy. And with this, of course, comes the 'damage control' robots. Just google Younger Dryas Impact to see this silliness.

Here are some interesting links for those who are curious.

Not real sure where to post this but I recognized the previous poster's name and wanted to add a few links that have recently(or not) become available.

_http://craterhunter.wordpress.com/ is Dennis'(previous poster- thanks Dennis) page and for the layman, very informative. Having lived quite a while in his general locale, the odd formations seen in this area might very well be explained here(see 'Çalifornia Melt' in right column). Lots of great links.

_http://sites.google.com/site/dragonstormproject/Home Is another informative site. Also Dennis'?

_http://tsun.sscc.ru/hiwg/Activity/Firestone+25_2007.pdf For those that enjoy/understand the more scientific analysis. With charts, graphs etc. Firestone, et al, is definitely on the forefront of this research.

_http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~tljones/JQSR2302_proof.pdf Even more scientifically oriented. Mostly relating to finds at the Channel Islands off California.

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/134637-+The+Younger+Dryas+Impact+Event+and+the+Cycles+of+Cosmic+Catastrophes+-+Climate+Scientists+Awakening
SoTT's own. Very well done of course.
 
I was reading a book about Atlantis and it says, Atlanteans attacked Rama Empire (Indians) with nuclear weapons. Might this crater be the result of a possible nuclear attack? And maybe this is the reason why Indians are more prone to genetical skin diseases than people from other parts of the world.


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Some details from wiki about Lonar Lake:

Lonar Lake


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia




Lonar Lake, also known as Lonar crater, is a notified National Geo-heritage Monument,[1][2][3] saline, soda lake, located at Lonar in Buldhana district, Maharashtra, India. Lonar Lake was created by a meteor impact during the Pleistocene Epoch.[4][5] It is one of the four known, hyper-velocity, impact craters in basaltic rock anywhere on Earth. The other three basaltic impact structures are in southern Brazil.[6] Lonar Lake has a mean diameter of 1.2 kilometres (3,900 ft) and is about 137 metres (449 ft) below the crater rim. The meteor crater rim is about 1.8 kilometres (5,900 ft) in diameter.[7]

Lonar Crater sits inside the Deccan Plateau—a massive plain of volcanic basalt rock created by eruptions some 65 million years ago. Its location in this basalt field suggested to some geologists that it was a volcanic crater. Today, however, Lonar Crater is understood to be the result of a meteorite impact that occurred between 35,000 and 50,000 years ago.[8] The water in the lake is both saline and alkaline.
Geologists, ecologists, archaeologists, naturalists. and astronomers have published studies of various aspects of this crater lake ecosystem.[9] Lonar

The Smithsonian Institution, the United States Geological Survey, Geological Society of India, the University of Sagar and the Physical Research Laboratory have conducted extensive studies of the site.[13][14] Biological nitrogen fixation was discovered in this lake in 2007.[15] A recent study, conducted by IIT Bombay found that the minerals, in the lake soil, are very similar to the minerals found in moon rock brought back during Apollo Program.[16]
Geographical features


The water of the lake contains various salts and sodas. During dry weather, when evaporation reduces the water level, large quantities of soda are collected. Two small streams, named Purna and Penganga,[18] drain into the lake, and a well of fresh water is located on the southern side, close to the water's edge.[19]

Geological origin: Impact crater






Satellite view of Lonar crater lake

Lonar Lake lies within the only known extraterrestrial impact crater found within the great Deccan Traps, a huge basaltic formation in India.[20] The presence of plagioclase that has been either converted into Maskelynite or contains Planar deformation features has confirmed the impact origin of this crater. It is believed that only shock metamorphism caused by a hypervelocity impact can transform plagioclase into maskelynite, or create planar deformation features. The presence of impact deformation of basalt layers comprising the rim, of shocked Breccia inside the crater, of shatter cones, and of the non-volcanic Ejecta blanket surrounding the crater all support the impact origin of Lonar Lake.

The crater has an oval shape. The meteorite impact came from the east, at an angle of 35 to 40 degrees.[21]

There are various estimates of the age of the crater. Earlier thermoluminescence analyses gave a result of 52,000 years, while recent Argon-argon dating suggests that the crater is much older; it could be 570 000 ± 47 000 years old. This greater age is in line with the degree of erosion of the crater rim.[11][21]

As a result of the studies, the geological features of the Lonar crater have been divided into five distinguishable zones, exhibiting distinct geomorphic characteristics.[22] The five zones are:[23]


  1. The outermost ejecta blanket
  2. The crater rim
  3. The slopes of the crater
  4. The crater basin, excluding lake
  5. The crater lake

Side view of Lonar crater during monsoon season


Location
Buldhana district, Maharashtra, India
Coordinates
17px-WMA_button2b.png
19°58′35″N 76°30′30″ECoordinates:
17px-WMA_button2b.png
19°58′35″N 76°30′30″E
Typeimpact crater lake, salt lake
Native nameलोणार सरोवर (Marathi)
Basin countriesIndia
Max. length1,830 m (6,000 ft)
Surface area1.13 km2 (0.44 sq mi)
Average depth137 m (449 ft)
Max. depth150 m (490 ft)
Residence timeIST
ReferencesLonar Crater, India
 
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