Australia map from Earth Impact Database

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Basic Science Studies II: Impact Cratering
by The Remote Sensing Tutorial

Courtesy Energy Mines and Resources, Canada

Lying on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert in the East Kimberley this meteorite crater is the second largest crater in the world. Aboriginal Dreaming tells of two rainbow snakes who formed the nearby Sturt and Wolfe Creeks as they crossed the desert. The crater is believed to be the place where one snake emerged from the ground.

The crater is 880 meters across and almost circular. Today, the floor is about 60 meters below the rim and is generally flat but rises slightly in the center. - Source
 
 
 

Wolfe Creek is a meteorite impact crater (astrobleme) in Western Australia. It is accessed via the Tanami Road 105 km south of the town of Halls Creek. The crater is central to the Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater National Park.

The crater averages about 875 meters in diameter, 60 meters from rim to present crater floor and it is estimated that the meteorite that formed it had a mass of about 50,000 kg, while the age is estimated to be less than 300,000 years (Pleistocene).

The local Djaru (Jaru) Aboriginal people know it as Kandimalal. It was brought to the attention of science after being spotted during an aerial survey in 1947, investigated on the ground two months later, and reported in publication in 1949. The European name for the crater comes from a nearby creek, which was in turn named after Robert Wolfe (early reports misspell the name as Wolf Creek), a prospector and storekeeper during the gold rush that established the town of Halls Creek. - Source: Wikipedia
 
 

Provided by: Mr. Moose

Image Courtesy NASA/JPL Click Image for Larger Version

142 million years ago, an asteroid or comet slammed into what is now the Missionary Plains in Australia's Northern Territory, forming a crater 24 kilometers in diameter and 5 kilometers deep. Today, like a bull's eye, the circular ring of hills that defines Gosses Bluff stands as a stark reminder of the event. The crater is located just south of MacDonnel Ranges (top of the picture). It is highly eroded. The circular ring of hills (5 kilometers or 3 miles diameter) is actually the results from differential erosion of the central uplift within this large complex crater. The crater rim is eroded to the point that it is no longer visible though it is probably located along the grayish colored drainage system outside the inner ring. (Courtesy USGS) 

Amelia Creek crater is an impact structure (or astrobleme), the eroded remnant of a former impact crater, located in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is situated within a low range of Palaeoproterozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks, which are extensively folded and faulted, thus making an eroded impact crater difficult to recognize. It was only discovered by the identification of shatter cones near its center. The central shatter cone locality is surrounded by a 20 x 12 km area of anomalous deformation, the asymmetry being possibly related to very oblique impact, but may be at least partly due to the pre-existing structural complexity of the rocks. This deformed zone gives the best estimate for the original size of the crater. Impact took place after folding of the Palaeoproterozoic rocks but before deposition of Neoproterozoic and Cambrian rocks which overlie them, thus constraining the impact event to the interval between about 1660 and 600 Ma.

Aerial Photo NASA

The unusual geological structure has been a puzzle since the 1950s, but it was not until shatter cones were discovered it the center in the late 1970s that it was realized that it was an eroded impact structure. The central area bearing shatter cones is interpreted as the relic of a central uplift with the outer limits of disturbance confined to a sub circular area about 11 x 13 km in diameter; the original crater may have been slightly greater than this due to the depth of erosion. The asymmetry of the structure lead some geologists to conclude that the projectile had a very low angle trajectory from the north or northwest, while others suggest that the asymmetry may be at least partly due to the effect of pre-existing topography.

The age of the Spider impact event is not accurately constrained, but it has been argued it occurred after gentle folding of the Palaeoproterozoic quartzite, but before a regional episode of glacial erosion; if correct it occurred between 900-600 Ma i.e. during the Neoproterozoic.  - Wikipedia

NASA Space Shuttle Image: STS17-4107-1228 Click image for large tiff version

Space shuttle image STS17-4107-1228.

Location: 18°20'S, 126°40'E
Diameter: 5.1 kilometers
Age: <55 million years

(courtesy of David McKinnon) Photograph of one of the small Henbury craters - approximately 30m across and 8m deep

Henbury is a group of 12-14 meteor craters in Northern Territory, Australia. The largest is 157 meters in diameter and the age is estimated to be 4200 ± 1900 years (Holocene).

In local the aboriginal language, the name of the craters translates as sun walk fire devil rock, which implies that people witnessed their formation. The pattern of the craters suggests that they were formed by an object which broke up shortly before impact. Because the craters capture occasional rainfall, they are important as a water source in that part of the outback.
 - SOURCE Free Encyclopedia
 

Aerial Photograph Courtesy Earth Impact Database

Courtesy Meteorite Martin

© Tony & Debbie Henderson 2003 - 2005

Boxhole is a young impact crater in Northern Territory, Australia. It is 170 meters in diameter and its age is estimated to be 54,000 ± 1,500 years, placing it near the end of the Pleistocene. The crater is exposed to the surface.

Submitted by Peter Haines

Submitted by Peter Haines

Vertical aerial photograph showing the circular plateau of Neoproterozoic sandstone which overlies the structure. Deformed Mesoproterozoic rocks, interpreted as relics of the rim, outcrop around the edge of the plateau.

Foelsche is a partly buried impact structure (or astrobleme), the eroded remnant of a former impact crater. It is situated at latitude 16° 40' S and longitude 136° 47' E in the Northern Territory, Australia, and named after the nearby Foelsche River. Although little of it is exposed at the surface, and no crater shaped topography is evident, the circular nature of the feature is obvious on aeromagnetic images, a factor that led to its discovery.

The impact occurred into flat lying Mesoproterozoic sedimentary rocks of the McArthur Basin and most of the crater is covered by a semi-circular hill of flat lying Neoproterozoic sedimentary rock. The only exposure of the crater itself are scattered outcrops of deformed sandstone and breccia around the northern edge of the overlying hill, which are inferred to be remnants of the crater rim. The rim is about 6 km in diameter. Evidence indicating an impact origin for the feature includes an abundance of shocked quartz grains in the sedimentary rocks overlying the crater; these are assumed to have been eroded from the floor of the crater. The prominent circular aeromagnetic anomaly which marks the hidden crater is believed to have been caused by the disruption of a horizontal layer of magnetic rock (igneous sill) by the impact event.

The age of Foelsche is not well constrained, but it must be younger than the Mesoproterozoic target rocks and older than the Neoproterozoic rocks that partly fill the crater; it has been argued that the age is most likely Neoproterozoic because it appears that the crater was covered by sediments soon after the impact event. - Source: Wikipedia

Old Aerial Photo

Kelly West is a deeply eroded impact crater, (impact structure or astrobleme), situated in the central Northern Territory, Australia. It was discovered during Government geological mapping and first reported in 1973, the evidence for impact coming principally from an abundance of shatter cones at the site.

The surface expression of Kelly West comprises a circular hill of Palaeoproterozoic quartzite about 2 km in diameter, interpreted as a central uplift of a larger complex impact crater. Recent geophysical interpretation suggests an original crater diameter of 6.6 km, less than earlier estimates of about 10 km. The age is poorly constrained, but must be older than Middle Cambrian because sedimentary rocks of this age overlie the central uplift and were not deformed by the impact event. - Source: Wikipedia

Google Earth

The crater lies within flat lying Palaeoproterozoic sandstone of the McArthur Basin. This sandstone has been fractured and brecciated by the impact event to form the rim. Flat lying and non deformed sandstone that must have been deposited after the impact event is exposed within the center of the crater. Because the crater is quite well preserved, it can be argued that it was buried by younger sedimentary rock soon after the impact event; this younger rock has now been mostly eroded away except in the crater center. The crater filling sandstone was originally thought to be of Cretaceous age, leading to the Cretaceous age listed for the crater in older literature sources. However, more recent studies suggest that the infilling rock is more likely to be of Neoproterozoic age (1000-543 Ma) and therefore the crater is more likely to have formed at some time during the Neoproterozoic.

No meteorite fragments have been found at the site. This is not surprising considering its great age; such fragments would have weathered away. Evidence supporting an impact origin includes the geological structure of the crater, and the discovery of shocked quartz. The crater is not perfectly circular, but is about 6% broader in a northeast/southwest direction and the internal parts of the crater are also asymmetric is such a way as to imply that the impact was oblique from the southwest. - Source Wikipedia

Aster Image: Courtesy Peter Haines

The circular topographic feature that marks the site was originally thought to be volcanic, with an impact origin first proposed in 1971 after the discovery of evidence diagnostic of impact including shatter cones and shocked quartz. The circular topographic feature is about 16 km in diameter and lies within Mesoproterozoic sedimentary rocks of the McArthur Basin. However, this is only a relic of the original crater after considerable erosion. Estimates of the original rim diameter vary between different researchers in the range 24–40 km; the Earth Impact Database prefers a diameter of 25 km. The age of the impact event has been determined at 646 ± 42 Ma (Neoproterozoic) based on radiometric dating of impact melt rocks. - Source Wikipedia
 

Submitted by: Heiko Zumsprekel

ERS 2 radar combined with DEM (violet: low topography to yellow: high topography). The crater can be traced by the circular arrangement of Proterozoic sand stones. The yellow elevated plateaus in the center consist of post impact Cretaceous sand stones. Coverage ca. 40 x 40 km.

Image Courtesy NASA/Landsat

The site is heavily eroded and it has been suggested that the original crater was slightly larger, at around 20 km diameter. The age of the impact structure is somewhat contentious, in the absence of any radiometric dating. The impact shocked rocks at the center of the site are early Mesoproterozoic in age, which gives an absolute maximum possible age for the impact. In the past it has been debated whether the limestones, which are of Middle Cambrian age (ca. 510 Ma) based on comparisons with nearby outcrops of marine limestone in the Georgina Basin, were simply deposited in the crater after it's formation, or were actually deformed by the impact event. Depending on the differing points of view, the crater may be of earlier Cambrian or Proterozoic age, or it could be of younger Paleozoic age. The most recent study concludes that the impact most likely happened just before or even during the early stages of deposition of the limestone, suggesting an age of around 509–506 Ma (Middle Cambrian).

Based on the theory that the crater was invaded by the sea just after the impact, the crater may have formed a unique protected micro environment for primitive life, and could be an important analogue to craters filled with sediment in a similar way on Mars.
- Source Wikipedia

Image Courtesy NASA/Landsat

Impact melt breccias have been found about 25 km southeast of the central uplift structure, and have also been found filling the annular structure around the central uplift. The pyroclasts consist of impact breccia fragments, as well as vitrified impact melt glass. Breccia samples have also been found during drilling into the central uplift dome; these breccias have a vitrified glassy matrix, with angular pyroclasts.

Tookoonooka has been dated to around 128 MYA, based on studies of local pollen sequences. At this time a large inland sea covered much of Queensland, suggesting this impact landed somewhere off-shore. No dinosaur remains are known from Queensland from around this time, so the effect of the impact on local species is uncertain. Most Queensland species date to 110 MYA or later, with the sauropod Rhoetosaurus living 40-50 million years before the impact. It may have had more of an effect on marine species, however most Queensland marine reptiles are also only known from 110 MYA or later. Without a good sample of species from immediately before the impact, it is impossible to say whether the Tookoonooka impact caused an extinction event. Extinction event or not, an impact of this size would still have done a lot of damage to the local area.  - SOURCE

Image Courtesy NASA/Landsat

The Bedout structure (pronounced "Bedoo") has a central uplift of around 100km in diameter, with a transient crater size of around 100km diameter. The original crater probably measured around 200 km in diameter in total, comparable to the Chicxulub crater in Mexico which may have contributed to the extinction of (non avian) dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous Period. - SOURCE
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See Also;
Impact At Bedout 'Smoking Gun' Of Giant Collision That Nearly Ended Life On Earth Is Identified Science Daily website, 14th May 2004

Bedout: an end Permian impact crater offshore northwestern Australia
(PDF file - conference abstract)

Bedout: A Possible End Permian Impact Crater Offshore Northwestern Australia
(HTML - full paper)

Crawford is an impact crater near Adelaide in South Australia, Australia. It is 8.5 km in diameter and the age is estimated to be greater than 35 million years (probably Eocene). The crater is exposed to the surface.

No other data available at this time...

Flaxman is a meteor crater in South Australia, Australia. It is 10 km in diameter and the age is estimated to be greater than 35 million years (probably Eocene). The crater is exposed to the surface.

No other data available at this time...

Aster satellite image Submitted by Jeffrey Plescia

The depression has a topographic rim 25–30 m high, while the center displays a slight circular rise about 1 km in diameter and 5 m high exposing strongly deformed and steeply dipping bedrock interpreted as a central uplift. Sedimentary rocks comprising the rim are of Early Cretaceous to Paleocene age, while uplifted rocks in the center are likely of Early Permian age, all part of the Canning Basin; the impact event itself is inferred to be of Paleocene (early Tertiary) age.

.Glikson crater is an impact structure (or astrobleme), the eroded remnant of a former impact crater, situated in the Little Sandy Desert of central Western Australia. A possible impact structure was first reported in 1997, and named after Australian geologist A. Y. Glikson, attention to the site being drawn by the presence of a prominent 14 km diameter ring shaped aeromagnetic anomaly. The area within the ring contains sparse outcrop of uplifted and deformed Neoproterozoic sandstone, but is largely covered by sand dunes. The recent discovery of shatter cones and microscopic shock effects is reliable evidence for an impact origin. Deformation of the sandstone consistent with an impact origin extends out to a diameter of 19 km, which is the best estimate for the original diameter of the original crater. The ring shaped aeromagnetic anomaly was probably caused by disruption of a horizontal layer of magnetic igneous rock, known as a sill, by the impact event. Nearby outcrops of dolerite have been dated at 508 ± 5 Ma (Middle Cambrian), and if this is the same rock causing the aeromagnetic anomaly, then the impact must be younger, probably of Paleozoic age. - Source: Wikipedia

Aster satellite image Provided by Peter Haines

The site is marked by a circular topographic feature on top of the flat topped sandstone and conglomerate Bungle Bungle Range, clearly visible on remotely sensed images (Google Maps image). When first reported in 1983 after aerial observation, it was interpreted as either an impact structure or a crypto volcanic feature. Later ground examination by E.M. and C.S. Shoemaker confirmed the presence of types of deformation indicative of an impact origin.

The circular topographic feature is 7 km in diameter, although due to the amount of erosion the original crater may have been larger. It has been estimated that the present land surface is 1–2 km below the original crater floor. The impact event has not been dated, but must be younger that the Devonian age of the rocks in the area, but is clearly not recent because of the amount of erosion. - Source: Wikipedia

Image Credit: Impact Database

The crater has a symmetrical bowl shaped topography and is considered to be one of the best preserved small meteorite craters on Earth. The 20 m wide rim rises about 1.5 m above the plain, while the deepest point of the central depression is 7 m below the rim crest; the rim to rim diameter averages about 70 m. Based on cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating of the crater walls, the crater is less than 20 thousand years old, while the pristine state of preservation of the ejecta has been used to suggest that it may in fact be less than 4 thousand years old.

The iron meteorite fragments collected around the crater are classified as a coarse octahedrite belonging to chemical class IIAB; the fragments show considerable evidence of deformation presumably related to the impact explosion. It has been inferred that the original meteorite was in the size range of 100-1000 tonnes, probably closer to the latter, now dispersed as fragments within the crater filling breccia and ejecta. - Source: Wikipedia

The original crater has been completely eroded and is not readily visible on aerial or satellite images; the evidence for impact comes rather from the presence of shocked quartz and shatter cones in outcrops of granite interpreted the be near the center of the original crater, and from geophysical data. The diameter of the original crater is uncertain, but has been estimated to be in the range 30–70 km. The age of the impact event is also uncertain, but it must be younger than the granite that has been shocked, which has been dated at about 2650 Ma (late Archaean). Veins of pseudotachylite (rocks melted by friction) in the granite have given a date of 1134±26 Ma using the Ar-Ar method, and although the significance of this age is not fully clear it is currently considered by some to provide the best tentative estimate for the age. The Earth Impact Database prefers an intermediate estimate of about 2000 Ma.
 - Source: Wikipedia

The crater is not exposed at the surface and therefore its size is uncertain. The original discovery team believe it may be up to 120 kilometers in diameter , but others argue it may be much smaller, with one study suggesting a diameter closer to 60 kilometers . The larger estimate, if correct, would make this the fourth largest confirmed impact structure in the world, and imply a bolide (asteroid or comet) about 5–6 kilometers in diameter .

The central uplift, interpreted to be 20 kilometers in diameter, was first intersected by drilling activities in the late 1970s; however its significance as an impact structure was only realized in 1997 during a gravity survey [3]. In 1999 a new core sample was taken. The thin veins of melted glass, breccia, and shocked quartz found would have formed under pressures 100,000 times greater than atmospheric pressure at sea level, or between 10 and 100 times greater than those generated by volcanic or earthquake activity. Only a large impact could have generated such conditions.

The Woodleigh impact event, originally thought to have occurred between the Late Triassic and Late Permian, is now thought to date from 364 ± 8 million years (Late Devonian) [4]. This time corresponds approximately to a minor extinction event when around 40% of species disappeared. There is evidence for other large impact events at around the same time, so if the extinction is related to impact, perhaps more than one crater was involved.
 - Source: Wikipedia

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