The Barringer Crater, also known as the Meteor Crater, is a famous impact crater created by a meteorite, located about 55 kilometers east of Flagstaff in the northern Arizona desert (USA). Its coordinates are 35° 1′ 38″ N 111° 1′ 22″ W (http://kvaleberg.com/extensions/mapsources/index.php?params=35_1_38_N_111_1_22_W_) This article is about impact craters, also known as meteor craters. ... Worlds second largest Meteorite in Culiacan, Mexico A meteorite is a relatively small extra-terrestrial body that reaches the Earths surface. ... Flagstaff (Navajo Kinłání) is a city located in Coconino County in northern Arizona, in the west of the United States. ... State nickname: The Grand Canyon State, The Copper State Other U.S. States Capital Phoenix Largest city Phoenix Governor Janet Napolitano Official languages English Only State Area 295,254 km² (6th)  - Land 294,312 km²  - Water 942 km² (0. ... This article is about longitude and latitude; see also UTM coordinate system Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (vertically) and longitude (horizontally); large version (pdf) The geographic (earth-mapping) coordinate system expresses every horizontal position on Earth by two of the three coordinates of a spherical coordinate system which...

Barringer Crater

The impact of the meteor with Earth occurred about 50,000 years ago. Currently, the crater is about 1.5 kilometers in diameter (slightly less than a mile), and some 170 meters deep (570 feet). A 30 meter high rim of rock surrounds the crater, distinguishing it from the surrounding plains. The impact happened during the Pleistocene when the climate on the Colorado Plateau was cooler and damper. The area was a grassland dotted with woodlands inhabited by wooly mammoths, giant ground sloths, and camels. No humans would have been anywhere nearby; the first humans are thought to have reached the continent around 13,000 years ago. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... A burst of meteors A meteor is the visible path of a meteoroid that enters the Earths (or another bodys) atmosphere, commonly called a shooting star or falling star. ... Earth, also known as the Earth or Terra, is the third planet outward from the Sun. ... The Pleistocene Epoch is part of the geologic timescale, usually dated as 1. ... The Colorado Plateau, also called the Colorado Plateaus Province, is a physiographic region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. ... This article is about the extinct mammal. ... Families Rathymotheriidae Scelidotheriidae Mylodontidae Orophodontidae Megalonychidae Megatheriidae Ground sloths are extinct edentate (Order Xenarthra) mammals that are believed to be relatives of tree sloths and three-toed sloths. ... Species Camelus bactrianus Camelus dromedarius A camel is either of the two species of large even-toed ungulate in the genus Camelus, the Dromedary (Single hump) and the Bactrian Camel (Double hump). ... Human beings are defined variously in biological, spiritual, and cultural terms, or in combinations thereof. ...

The crater was created when an iron-metallic meteor about 50 meters across fell from the sky. For any creatures watching, it would have burned much brighter than the Sun as it fell. Previously, it was thought that the meteor reached 45,000 miles an hour (72,000 km/h) at impact, although the most recent analysis, in the March 10, 2005 edition of Nature, suggests the impact was at 28,600 miles per hour (12 km/s), substantially slower than previously thought, and approximately half of the rock's 300,000-ton mass vaporized during the descent. The impact produced a massive explosion equivalent to at least 2.5 megatons of TNT - equivalent to a large thermonuclear explosion and about 150 times the yield of the atomic bombs used at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The explosion dug out 175 million tons of rock and left a crater about 1,200 meters across and 170 meters deep. The shock of impact propagated as a hemispherical shock wave that blasted the rock down and outward from the point of impact, forming the crater. Much more impact energy, equivalent to an estimated 6.5 megatons, was released into the atmosphere and generated a devastating above-ground shockwave. General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metal Group, Period, Block 8 (VIIIB), 4, d Density, Hardness 7874 kg/m3, 4. ... A sun is the star at the center of a solar system. ... March 10 is the 69th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (70th in Leap years). ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... A megaton or megatonne is a unit of mass equal to 1,000,000 metric tons, i. ... TNT is a three-letter abbreviation with multiple meanings, including: Trinitrotoluene, a chemical explosive. ... A 23 kiloton tower shot called BADGER, fired on April 18, 1953 at the Nevada Test Site, as part of the Operation Upshot-Knothole nuclear test. ... Citizens of Hiroshima walk by the A-Bomb Dome, the closest building to have survived the citys atomic bombing. ...

Looking into the crater from the south rim

For a meteor of its size, the impact melted surprisingly little rock, though it produced high enough temperatures and pressures to transform carbon minerals into diamonds and lonsdaleite, a form of diamond found near the crater in fragments of Arizona's Canyon Diablo meteorite. The lower temperature than expected is a result of increased air resistance when the meteor broke into fragments, slowing the meteor and preventing it from heating, according to a March 10, 2005 paper in Nature. Limestone blocks as massive as 30 tons were tossed outside the crater's rim. The shock of the impact would have sped through the ground, resulting in an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 or higher. Photo of Meteor Crater interior from the edge, taken April 2004 by Stan Shebs File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Photo of Meteor Crater interior from the edge, taken April 2004 by Stan Shebs File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... General Name, Symbol, Number Carbon, C, 6 Chemical series Nonmetals Group, Period, Block 14 (IVA), 2, p Density, Hardness 2267 kg/m3 0. ... Minerals are natural compounds formed through geological processes. ... A scattering of round-brilliant cut diamonds shows off the many reflecting facets. ... Lonsdaleite is a hexagonal polymorph of the carbon allotrope diamond, believed to form when meteoric graphite falls to Earth. ... The Canyon Diablo meteorite impacted at Barringer Crater, Arizona and is known from fragments collected around the crater and nearby Canyon Diablo which lies about 3 to 4 miles west of the crater. ... Wind resistance is overall drag on a body due to its interaction with the atmosphere. ... Limey shale overlaid by limestone. ... Global earthquake epicenters, 1963–1998 An earthquake is a trembling or a shaking movement of the Earths surface. ...

All life within a radius of three to four kilometers was killed immediately. The fireball that formed would have scorched everything within a radius of ten kilometers. A shock wave moving out at 2,000 km/h leveled everything from 14 to 22 kilometers, dissipating to hurricane-force winds that persisted to a radius of 40 kilometers. Despite this destruction, the Barringer impact did not throw up enough dust to seriously affect the Earth's climate. The area was likely recolonized by the local flora and fauna within a century. In fluid dynamics, a shock wave is a nonlinear pressure wave. ... This article is about weather phenomena. ...

Discovery

Meteor Crater in Arizona

Barringer Crater Panorama

Settlers in the American West were the first to find the great crater. At first, some geologists believed it was a volcanic crater, but in 1903 a mining engineer and businessman named Daniel Moreau Barringer suggested it was the result of the impact of a large iron-metallic meteorite. Barringer's company, the Standard Iron Company, conducted research on the crater between 1903 and 1905, and concluded that the crater had indeed been caused by a violent impact. Barringer and his partner, the mathematician and physicist Benjamin C. Tilghman, presented their first papers to the U.S. Geological Survey in 1906, outlining the evidence in support of the impact theory. The papers were published in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. Later research by Eugene M. Shoemaker would confirm his hypothesis, as the crater was lined with materials showing the effects of the enormous pressures and high temperatures associated with an impact event. It is the first site to be proven to be formed by the impact of an object from outer space. Download high resolution version (1600x320, 152 KB)This is an image that I took of Meteor Crater in Arizona. ... Download high resolution version (1600x320, 152 KB)This is an image that I took of Meteor Crater in Arizona. ... Download high resolution version (1430x161, 33 KB) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Download high resolution version (1430x161, 33 KB) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... A volcano is a geological landform (usually a mountain) where magma (rock of the earths interior made molten or liquid by high pressure and temperature) erupts through the surface of the planet. ... 1903 has the latest occurring solstices and equinoxes for 400 years, because the Gregorian calendar hasnt had a leap year for seven years or a century leap year since 1600. ... Daniel M. Barringer Daniel Moreau Barringer (1860 – 1929) is best known for being the first person to prove the existence of a meteorite crater on Earth, the Barringer Meteorite Crater, or Meteor Crater, in Arizona. ... 1903 has the latest occurring solstices and equinoxes for 400 years, because the Gregorian calendar hasnt had a leap year for seven years or a century leap year since 1600. ... 1905 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... A mathematician is a person whose area of study and research is mathematics. ... The word physicist should not be confused with physician, which means medical doctor. ... The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a scientific agency of the United States government. ... 1906 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Philadelphia is a village located in Jefferson County, New York. ... Eugene Shoemaker at a stereoscopic microscope used for asteroid discovery Eugene Merle Shoemaker (or Gene Shoemaker) (April 28, 1928 – July 18, 1997) was one of the founders of the fields of planetary science and is best known for co-discovering the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with his wife Carolyn Shoemaker... Artists impression of a major impact event. ...

Closeup of old shaft at the bottom of the crater; note astronaut cutout and flag attached to fence.

At the time of first discovery by Europeans, the surrounding plains were covered with about 30 tons of oxidized iron chunks from the meteorite. Barringer spent 27 years trying to mine the crater and find metallic iron, which he believed to have been left by the meteorite. However, as the meteorite had vaporized on impact, no significant deposit was ever found. mn File links The following pages link to this file: Barringer Crater User:Stan Shebs/Gallery/Places ... mn File links The following pages link to this file: Barringer Crater User:Stan Shebs/Gallery/Places ... World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ...

External links

• Barringer Crater official site (http://barringercrater.com)
• CNN: New computer analysis (http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/03/09/arizona.meteor.crater/index.html) shows that the meteor may have been traveling more slowly than previously thought
• Google Map (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Winslow,+AZ&ll=35.028448,-111.022253&spn=0.067291,0.095615&t=k&hl=en)