The Nördlinger Ries is a depression in western Bavaria, Germany, located north of the Danube in the district of Donau-Ries. With an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... Length 2,888 km Elevation of the source 1,078 m Average discharge 30 km before Passau: 580 m³/s Vienna: 1,900 m³/s Budapest: 2,350 m³/s just before Delta: 6,500 m³/s Area watershed 817,000 km² Origin Black Forest (Schwarzwald-Baar, Baden- Württemberg, Germany... Donau-Ries is a district in Bavaria, Germany. ...

The Ries is in fact a crater caused by a meteorite 14.8 million years ago in the Miocene. The depression has a circular shape and is 25 km in diameter. The bottom of the crater is about 100-150 m below the brink. The city of Nördlingen is located in the middle of the crater. The word crater may refer to A landform resembling a pit or depression in the topography that can be formed in several ways: speculation exists that a meteorite impact with another body can cause an impact crater, an electrical discharge on any scale tends to form circular craters, volcanic activity... Worlds second largest Meteorite in Culiacan, Mexico A meteorite is a relatively small extra-terrestrial body that reaches the Earths surface. ... The Miocene Epoch is a period of time that extends from about 24-5 million years before the present. ... Nördlingen is a town in Bavaria, Germany. ...

The word "Ries" is not a German word; it is believed that the term is derived from Raetia, since the tribe of Raetians lived in the area in pre-Roman times. The addition "Nördlinger" is actually redundant, as there is no other place called Ries. The Roman Empire ca. ... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ...

In 1960 two American scientists, Eugene Shoemaker and Edward Chao, proved that the depression was caused by a meteorite. Until then it was assumed, that the Ries was of volcanic origin. 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 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... 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. ...

For human settlement within the Ries region, see Donau-Ries. Donau-Ries is a district in Bavaria, Germany. ...

External links

• Ries Crater Museum Nördlingen (http://www.riescrater-museum.de/)