Make Your Own Discoveries!

Scientists use the geology of Earth craters to help them understand what has happened geologically on other planets. The reverse is also true - we can learn a lot about Earth craters by studying them other planets.

Erosion at the Barringer Meteorite CraterErosion at the Barringer Meteorite Crater. Photo: L. Garay

Research Challenges

Erasing the Evidence

Meteor crater was formed ~50,000 years ago and is one of the best-preserved Earth impact craters. Even so, erosion has changed it over time.  The ejecta blanket is highly eroded, and only remnants remain.  Debris and lake sediments have partly filled the bottom of the crater. 

Some of Earth’s older and bigger craters have been greatly deformed by metamorphism, erosion, and humans, making them hard to find. Use the Crater Timemap to find examples of eroded or metamorphosed impact craters.

Hidden Crater

The Chicxulub crater has been studied but presents a unique challenge for scientists. Located at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, this enormous crater is the result of an impact that may have caused the extinction of dinosaurs and other species at the end of the Cretaceous period. How does it compare to the Barringer Meteorite Crater, or to the Grand Canyon?

The Iridium Connection

What is Iridium? Where does it come from? Find out how this metal found in the K/T boundary soil gave us evidence of a catastrophic event that occurred 65 million years ago. The K/T boundary is a rock layer that marks the transition between the Cretaceous period and the Tertiary period of geologic history – at which time a mass-extinction event occurred (marking the end of the dinosaurs and many other species).

Impact flash during an experimental impact
Impact flash during an experimental impact. Photo: NASA/C. Ernst

Current Research

What’s an Impact Flash?

This is a picture of the impact flash taken during an experimental impact performed by Dr. Ernst and colleagues at the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range. The projectile was a 0.64-cm-diameter sphere, the target was powdered rock, and the velocity was approximately 5 km/s. This impact occurred in the dark, so all the light seen in this picture was created by the impact itself, as energy was transferred into the heating and melting of material. This picture is approximately 68 cm across.

Beyond Earth

What if the same impactor that created Barringer Meteorite Crater hit another planet or moon? What would the results be? Consider the atmosphere (or lack of one), the gravity, and geology of the surface (target type: sedimentary, crystalline?)

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