Meteor Crater located in the northern Arizona desert in United States is a big, circular shaped impact crater that is best preserved crater on earth. Its has a radius of about 2000 feet and is about 550 feet deep. On the rim of the crater, there are rocks and boulders up to a height of about 45 meters above the surrounding surface. While numerous other meteorite craters exist, even much larger in size than this, however, Arizona crater is credited with being the first one to have provided the proof of impact on the earth’s surface. It provides an enjoyable and excellent educational experience in natural environment for the entire family.
- Things to know:
- What is it – A Meteor Impact Crater in Arizona.
- Best season to visit – October to May
- Things not be missed – Flagstaff Sedona
- How to get there – By Road along Interstate 40.
- Nearest Town – Winslow Arizona – 34 Km to the east
- You should know – Crater is still owned and run by Berringer Family. An entry fee of $18 is payable for adults and $9 for children below 5 years. Entry to the crater itself is not allowed for the visitors.
- The age of the crater is estimated to be about 50,000 years (Pleistocene Epoch). The meteorite which created the impact is thought to be about 50 meters wide travelling at a speed of about 12.5 Kms per second and had a weight of approximately 300,000 tons. It was mainly composed of 92% Iron and 7% Nickel. Almost half of it had vaporized in our atmosphere before the impact and approx. 150,000 ton weighing meteor is considered to have made the impact.
- The Holsinger Meteorite, the largest discovered fragment of the meteor weighing 0.75 tons is available in the Vision Center. It is named after Samuel Holsinger, the man who found it in 1911.
- The incredible explosion that resulted had almost 150 times the force of bombs dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki (20 million tons of TNT).
- As no humans inhabited the region when impact occurred, its relatively small age and dry climate of the region makes it the most well preserved crater on the planet. An erosion of about 6-15 meter on and deposit of sedimentation of about 30 meters at basin is thought to have happened since the impact.
- In 1891, chief geologist of US Geological Survey, G.K. Gilbert concluded after investigations that the crater was formed as a result of steam explosion in a volcano since he could not find meteorite material in the rim (other than tiny fragments) and any magnetic anomalies.
- Daniel M Berringer, a mining engineer, in 1903, suggested that this crater was formed due to impact of a meteor. His conclusions were met with disbelief from the scientific community. He subsequently bought the crater and started digging it up to locate the remains of the meteorite and spent 26 years drilling without success. In 1929 he died; his hypothesis still unproven.
- It was not until 1960, that Eugene Shoemaker found two forms of Silica in the crater that can only be created through an impact event and was able to conclusively confirm Berringer’s theory.
- The Meteor Crater Arizona has now as Visitor Center on the north rim. This center has interactive exhibits and displays about meteorites and asteroids, space, the Solar System, and comets.
- The Visitor Center is having a movie theater, gift shop and has featured observation areas providing the views inside the rim of the crater. Guided tours are available on daily basis of the rim area
