Barringer Meteor Crater - Arizona USA - May 2000
Barringer Meteor Crater is the first confirmed
meteor impact crater on Earth and was formed
approximately 50,000 years ago
by the impact of a 150ft. diameter Meteor
with released 20 Megatons of explosive power
to create a crater 750 feet deep and 4000 feet across
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Rim of Barringer Meteor Crater |
main crater bowl |
East rim |
North Rim - note exposed sandstone layers
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main crater bowl |
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View towards Flagstaff from crater rim
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exposed sandstone closeup North rim
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closeup of east rim, large boulder
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north rim closeup |
me in front of the main bowl |
F
Facts about Barringer Meteor Crater:
All Apollo Astronaut lunar crews trained here before going to the Moon
The crater is 550 feet deep today and was 750 feet deep when created 50,000 years ago.
The Meteor
that carved out this crater was solid metal: about 92% iron 7% nickel and 1/2%
cobalt
based on samples of recovered meteorites at the site.
Daniel
Moreau Barringer proved that this crater called "Canyon Diablo" was a
meteor impact crater in 1905
and made many attempts to retrieve the "great
ball of iron" he thought would lie under the crater
the Crater was named after him after his death in
1929
(Barringer didn't know that the explosive energy of the impact would vaporize most of a meteorite)
The largest
meteorite recovered from the Crater weighs over 1400 pounds and is on display
in the Crater Museum
Facts about Barringer Meteor Crater
Barringer Meteor Crater was designated a Registered
National Landmark in 1968
If you want
to visit Barringer Meteor Crater:
its approximately 35 miles east of Flagstaff, Arizona
along US National Highway 40
see http://www.barringercrater.com/