![]() ![]() Modeling initially suggested that the meteorite struck at up to 45,000 mph (20 km/s), but more recent research suggests the impact was substantially slower, at 29,000 mph (12.8 km/s). The speed of the impact has been a subject of some debate. The object that excavated the crater was a nickel- iron meteorite about 160 ft (50 m) across. ![]() The area was an open grassland dotted with woodlands inhabited by mammoths and giant ground sloths. The crater was created about 50,000 years ago during the Pleistocene epoch, when the local climate on the Colorado Plateau was much cooler and damper. Formation Comparison of approximate sizes of notable impactors with the Hoba meteorite, a Boeing 747 and a New Routemaster bus It was designated a National Natural Landmark in November 1967. Since the crater is privately owned, it is not protected as a national monument, a status that would require federal ownership. ĭespite historic attempts to make the crater a public landmark, the crater remains privately owned by the Barringer family to the present day through their Barringer Crater Company, which proclaims it to be the "best-preserved meteorite crater on Earth". One of the features of the crater is its squared-off outline, believed to be caused by existing regional jointing (cracks) in the strata at the impact site. The center of the crater is filled with 690–790 ft (210–240 m) of rubble lying above crater bedrock. ![]() It is about 3,900 ft (1,200 m) in diameter, some 560 ft (170 m) deep, and is surrounded by a rim that rises 148 ft (45 m) above the surrounding plains. Meteor Crater lies at an elevation of 5,640 ft (1,719 m) above sea level. The site had several earlier names, and fragments of the meteorite are officially called the Canyon Diablo Meteorite, after the adjacent Canyon Diablo. Meteor Crater or Barringer Crater is a meteorite impact crater about 37 mi (60 km) east of Flagstaff and 18 mi (29 km) west of Winslow in the desert of northern Arizona, United States. ![]()
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