Barringer Crater
The Barringer Crater was the first meteorite crater to be recognised for what it is. It is a young crater, made about 50,000 years ago in Arizona.[1][2]
Daniel Barringer (May 25, 1860 – November 30, 1929) was a geologist. He was the first person to prove the existence of an impact crater on the Earth. The site has been renamed the Barringer Crater in his honor, and this is the preferred name used by scientists.
The crater is a popular tourist attraction. It is privately owned by the Barringer family through the Barringer Crater Company. There is an admission fee charged to see the crater. The Meteor Crater Visitor Center is on the north rim. It displays a fragment of the meteorite.
The crater was made by a a nickel-iron meteorite about 160 feet (50 meters) across.
Barringer Crater Media
Comparison of approximate sizes of notable impactors with the Hoba meteorite, a Boeing 747 and a New Routemaster bus
Looking into the crater from the north rim: The rust-colored area on the far (south) rim is where the last drilling for the meteorite occurred, in 1929. This is where Daniel M. Barringer believed the bulk of the meteorite was buried. Rock around the south rim is visibly uplifted.
Fragment of the Canyon Diablo meteorite
Meteor Crater from 36,000 ft (11,000 m), viewed from a passing airliner
References
- ↑ Roddy, D.J.; E.M. Shoemaker (1995). "Meteor Crater (Barringer Meteorite Crater), Arizona: summary of impact conditions". Meteoritics. 30 (5): 567. Bibcode:1995Metic..30Q.567R.
- ↑ [1] Earth Impact Database. Planetary and Space Science Centre University of New Brunswick Fredericton.