Meteorite: size and speed of the largest. classes and composition, names of the largest known

Meteorites hitting the earth! Shockwave and consequences

The largest meteor shower

The largest meteor shower - Leonids

As written in various documentary sources, on November 13, 1833 a meteor rain fell over the Earth. In one hour there were up to 200 thousand meteors (I do not know how it was counted.) Many at the time thought it was the end of the world. Astronomers realized that meteors come to us from outer space, and are not a product of the Earth's atmosphere, as rain - so until then it was thought.

The comet closest to Earth

Comet Lexel

In 1770, Comet Lexel approached Earth at a distance of approximately 2.2 million kilometers. This comet is named after Andrew Lexel, an observational astronomer who specialized in comets and calculated its orbit. No one has seen the comet since then. It is believed that its trajectory shifted due to its approach to Jupiter and it flew out of the solar system.

The nature and behavior of falling meteorites

Most of the celestial visitors to our planet at different times are stone, iron and combined meteorites (iron-stone). The first are the most frequent phenomena in nature. These are the residual fragments from which the planets of the solar system were once formed. Iron meteorites are composed of iron of natural origin and nickel, and the proportion of iron in them is over 90%. The number of iron space visitors who reached the surface layer of the crust does not exceed 5-6% of the total.

Goba

Goba is by far the largest meteorite found on Earth. A huge block of extraterrestrial origin, the iron giant weighing 60 tons fell to Earth in prehistoric times, and was only found in 1920. This space object is now known only because it consists of iron.

Stone meteorites are not as durable formations, but can also reach large sizes. Most often, such bodies collapse during flight and upon contact with the ground, leaving behind huge craters and craters. Sometimes a stone meteorite during flight through the Earth's dense atmosphere collapses, causing a violent explosion.

Such a phenomenon is still fresh in the memory of the scientific community. In 1908, the collision of planet Earth with an unknown celestial body was accompanied by an explosion of enormous force, which occurred at a height of about ten kilometers. The event took place in Eastern Siberia, in the basin of the Podkamennaya Tunguska River. According to the calculations of astrophysics, the Tunguska meteorite explosion of 1908 had a 10-40 Mt TNT equivalent power. The shock wave circled the globe four times. For several days in the area from the Atlantic to the Far East and beyond.

The Tunguska phenomenon

Another space giant left behind the enormous crater Chicxulub, located on the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico). The diameter of this giant depression is 180 km. The meteorite that left behind such a huge crater could have weighed several hundred tons. Not for nothing do scientists consider this meteorite the largest of all those that have visited the Earth in its long history. No less impressive is the meteorite impact in the United States, the world famous Arizona crater. Perhaps the impact of this huge meteorite was the beginning of the end of the din

Arizona Crater

Such destruction and such large-scale consequences are the result of the huge speed of a meteorite rushing toward the Earth, its mass and size. A falling meteorite with a speed of 10-20 kilometers per second and a mass of tens of tons can cause enormous destruction and casualties.

Even not so large space visitors reaching us can cause local destruction and create panic among the civilian population. In the new era, humanity has repeatedly encountered such astronomical phenomena. In fact, all but panic and excitement were limited to curious astronomical observations and subsequent study of meteorite impact sites. Such was the case in 2012 during the visit and subsequent fall of a meteorite with the beautiful name of Sutter Mill, which according to preliminary data was ready to shred the U.S. territory and

Meteor shower in China

Such astrophysical phenomena occur regularly. This is due to the fact that meteoroid streams carried in our solar system, from time to time can cross the orbit of our planet. A striking example of such meetings are considered regular dates of the Earth with the Leonid meteor shower. Among the known meteor streams it is with Leonids the Earth is forced to meet every 33 years. In this period, which falls on the calendar month of November, starfall is accompanied by falling debris on the Earth.

Asteroid falling to Earth

What if a meteor hit the earth at the speed of light?

The most famous and destructive meteorites in history - a nightmare from outer space that fell to Earth

There are a great many asteroids in the solar system. They are mostly concentrated in the area called the Main Asteroid Belt. It is located at a considerable distance from Earth - between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

From time to time individual asteroids are knocked out of it, and so it happens that in very rare cases their trajectory crosses the Earth, and then expect trouble. In the history of mankind, the most known 16 cases of meteorites falling on our planet.

Jilin Meteorite (Girin)

In 1976, the heaviest meteor shower of the last century hit the Earth, after which China found fragments of a stone meteorite weighing 4 tons. Similar blocks of stone bombarded China for 37 minutes. The largest shard weighs 1770 kg and anyone can look at it in the museum in the urban district of Girin (Jilin).

Goba

The largest single meteorite in the world is the Goba meteorite: it is located in Namibia and is a block weighing about 60 tons and a volume of 9 m³, at 84% consisting of iron and at 16% of nickel with a small admixture of cobalt. The meteorite surface is iron without any impurities: a single piece of naturally occurring iron of this size is not found on Earth.

Only dinosaurs could observe the fall of Goba to Earth: it fell to our planet in prehistoric times and was buried underground for a long time, until in 1920 it was discovered while plowing a field by a local farmer. Now the object has the status of a national monument, and anyone can see it for a small fee.

It is believed that the meteorite weighed 90 tons when it fell, but over the millennia of being on the planet, erosion, vandalism and scientific studies have served to reduce its mass to 60 tons. Unfortunately, the unique object continues to "lose weight" - many tourists feel obliged to drag away a piece as a keepsake.

Sikhote-Alin meteorite

On February 12, 1947 a huge boulder fell in the Ussuri taiga - the event could be observed by residents of the village Beitsukhe in Primorsky Krai: as always happens with the fall of a meteorite, witnesses spoke of a huge fireball, whose emergence and explosion were followed by rain of iron debris falling over an area of 35 km². Meteorite did not cause significant damage, but punched a number of craters in the ground, one of which was six meters deep.

It is assumed that the mass of the meteorite at the time of re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere was from 60 to 100 tons: the largest of the debris found weighs 23 tons and is considered one of the ten largest meteorites in the world. There are also several large blocks, formed by the explosion - now fragments are stored in the Meteorite Collection of the RAS and Khabarovsk Krai Museum named after N. I. Grodekov.

Murchison Meteorite, Australia, 1969

Murchison Meteorite - the most "living" meteorite found on Earth (Australia).

Research led by Philipp Schmitt-Kopplin of the Institute of Environmental Chemistry in Germany claims that the meteorite contains millions of different kinds of organic molecules, which proves the existence of amino acids beyond our planet. In particular, research in 2008 showed the presence of nucleic bases.

These findings are interpreted by some scientists as evidence that organic compounds brought from outer space by meteorites may have been involved in the origin of life on Earth.

According to scientists, the age of the meteorite is 4.65 billion years, that is, it was formed before the Sun, whose age is estimated at 4.57 billion years.

El Chaco meteorite, Argentina, 4,000 years ago

A meteorite weighing 37 tons was found by scientists in the southwest of Argentina's Chaco province. 4,500 years ago, a meteor shower occurred in the region, leaving many traces. The find was made in an area called the "Heavenly Field."

El Chaco is the second largest meteorite on Earth, weighing 37 tons. It was discovered in 1969. Because it was buried underground, it was found using a metal detector.

What is interesting, El Chaco is only one of the meteorite fragments named Campo del Cielo.

Another meteorite weighing nearly 31 tons was discovered not far from this site in 2016. Gancedo which is believed to be one of the fragments of El Chaco.

Gancedo Meteorite

"The celestial body" is a real treasure trove for astronomers. So far, more than 100 tons of extraterrestrial objects have been extracted from there. According to scientists, so far they have been able to detect only 35% of the total number of falling space objects, but perhaps nothing larger than Gancedo will be found.

Cape York meteorite, Greenland, 10,000 years ago

Cape York Meteorite is the third largest meteorite found on Earth. Named after the place where it was found the largest of its fragments weighing 31 tons on the island of Greenland. Dimensions are 3.4 x 2.1 x 1.7 m. Not far from it were found two more fragments weighing 3 tons and 400 kilograms respectively. However, the total weight of the meteorite is estimated at about 58.2 tons.

The first mention of this meteorite appeared as early as 1818.

The Scottish navigator John Ross, who discovered a hitherto unknown Eskimo settlement, was surprised by the fact that people unfamiliar with metalworking used arrowheads and knives, apparently made of iron. The Eskimos told him that the source of the metal was a certain "iron mountain", information about the location of which was lost.

When items taken with them to England were analyzed, they were found to contain a very high concentration of nickel - higher than in any other natural source on Earth.

Despite numerous further attempts to locate the meteorite, this was not possible until 1894. Currently, the meteorite is on display at the Geological Museum of the University of Copenhagen. It is so heavy that it rests on six massive steel columns, which penetrate the floor of the exhibition hall, pass through the foundation and are built into the rock foundation itself under the museum building.

Peruvian Poison Meteorite, Peru, 2007

In Peru, in the fall of 2017, eyewitnesses witnessed a meteorite fall near Lake Titicaca. They saw a ball of flame approaching the ground with a wild roar. The impact with the surface created a crater 6 meters deep and 30 meters in diameter, from which a hot water fountain erupted. During the boiling water released poisonous gases, which caused mass poisoning among local people. Afterwards, 1500 people living close to the meteorite landing complained of severe headaches.

Scientists have collected meteorite fragments up to five centimeters in diameter around the crater at a distance of up to 200 meters, many large fragments were taken earlier by local residents. They are fine-grained gray brittle pieces of rock with iron flecks.

Chelyabinsk meteorite, Russia, 2013

The worst "space invasion" in Russia's modern history occurred on the morning of February 15, 2013 at approximately 9:20 a.m. A meteoroid about 17 meters in diameter and weighing about 10,000 tons entered the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of about 18 km/s. Judging by the duration of atmospheric flight, the entry occurred at a very acute angle. About 32 seconds after entering the atmosphere the meteoroid collapsed.

The explosion took place in the vicinity of Chelyabinsk at an altitude of 15-25 km.

NASA estimates that the Chelyabinsk meteorite is the largest known celestial body to fall to Earth since the Tunguska meteorite.

Many of the fragments were found in the Chelyabinsk region. The largest of them, weighing 654 kg, were raised on October 16, 2013 from the bottom of the Chebarkul lakesMeteorite belongs to the class of ordinary chondrites

Before the explosion, the meteorite weighed about 10 thousand tons and had a diameter of 17 meters, and after it exploded into hundreds of fragments, the largest of which weighs half a ton.

The meteorite fall was accompanied by a powerful shock wave. The total amount of energy released, according to various estimates, was from 400 kilotons to 1.5 megatons in TNT equivalent. The shock wave injured 1613 people, most of them from broken glass. 40 to 112 people were hospitalized, according to various sources, two victims were placed in intensive care.

In terms of number of victims the fall of this meteoroid has no analogues in the world documented history, although in the Chinese sources and there are mentions of fatal cases associated with meteorites falling. The shock wave also damaged buildings. Material damage is tentatively estimated at between 400 million and one billion rubles.

The space guest, who brought international fame to the region, is planned to be immortalized in the form of a monument.

Tsarev Meteorite

In December 1922, residents of Astrakhan province were able to observe a stone falling from the sky: eyewitnesses said that the fireball was huge and made a deafening noise in flight. After an explosion was heard, and from the sky (again according to eyewitness accounts) it rained stones - the next day farmers living in the area found fragments of stones of strange shape and appearance in their fields.

Word of the incident quickly spread throughout Russia: expeditions arrived in the Astrakhan province, but for some reason they found no trace of the meteorite fall. They found them only 50 years later during the plowing of the fields of the farm "Leninsky" - a total of 82 chondrite meteorites were found, with debris scattered over 25 km2. The largest piece weighs 284 kg (now you can see it in the Moscow Museum of Fersman), the smallest - only 50 grams, but the composition of the samples clearly indicates their extraterrestrial origin.

The total weight of the debris is estimated at 1225 kg, and the fall of such a large celestial body did not cause significant damage.

Allende

Allende fell to Earth on February 8, 1969 in the Mexican state of Chihuahua - it is considered the largest carbonaceous meteorite on the planet, and at the time of his fall was about five tons.

Today, Allende is the most studied meteorite in the world: its fragments are stored in many museums around the world, and it is notable primarily because it is the oldest discovered body in the solar system, whose age can be precisely determined - it is about 4.567 billion years.

In addition, its composition was first found previously unknown mineral, called pangite: scientists assume that such a mineral is a part of many space objects, in particular asteroids.

Tunguska meteorite

On June 17, 1908, at seven o'clock local time, there was an air explosion near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River with a power of about 50 megatons - the power equivalent to a hydrogen bomb explosion. The explosion and subsequent blast wave were recorded by observatories around the world, huge trees in the area of 2000 km² from the alleged epicenter were uprooted, and not a single piece of glass remained in the homes of residents. For several days afterwards, the sky and clouds in the region were lit, including at night.

Local residents said that shortly before the explosion they had seen a huge ball of fire flying across the sky. Unfortunately, given the year of the incident, no pictures of the ball were taken.

None of the numerous research expeditions discovered any celestial body that could serve as the basis for the ball, and the first expedition arrived in the Tunguska area 19 years after the described event - in 1927.

The event is attributed to the fall to Earth of a large meteorite, later called the Tunguska meteorite, but scientists have not been able to find debris of the celestial body or at least the remaining material from its fall. However, in this place fixed a cluster of microscopic silicate and magnetite balls, which could not arise in this area for natural reasons, so they are attributed to a cosmic origin.

It is still unknown exactly what caused the explosion: there is no official hypothesis, but the meteoritic nature of the phenomenon still seems the most likely.

Meteorite Bilibino

In 1981, in the Chukotka Autonomous District bulldozers gold mine "Dalny" while washing the sands of placer gold came across an unusual piece of iron. It was a meteorite, weighing about a ton, which was later named after the nearby village of Bilibino. He rested in the permafrost at a depth of 13 meters in the geological museum of the North-Eastern Complex Research Institute determined that it collided with the Earth about 3-6 thousand years ago.

Peruvian meteorite

In Peru in the fall of 2017, eyewitnesses witnessed a meteorite fall near Lake Titicaca. They saw a ball of flame approaching the ground with a wild roar. The impact with the surface created a crater 6 meters deep and 30 meters in diameter, from which a hot water fountain burst out. It may have contained substances harmful to humans, in the wake of which 1,500 people living close to the meteorite landing site complained of severe headaches.

Kunya-Urgench meteorite

The meteorite was named after the Turkmen city near where it fell on June 20, 1998. Its largest fragment, weighing 820 kg, was found in a five-meter crater in the middle of a cotton field. It later received a certificate of the International Meteorite Society and is rightly considered the largest stone meteorite ever fallen in the CIS and the third largest in the world.

Pallasovo Iron Meteorite

In 1749, the blacksmith Yakov Medvedev and a mining engineer Johann Metich found near the present village of Medvedevo, Krasnoyarsk Territory ironstone block weighing 687 kg. In 1772, the find was shown to Academician Pallas, who came with an expedition in these areas. Thanks to him, the meteorite was sent to the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. First they sent one part of the meteorite and in 1777 the remaining half.

A meteorite named Apophis

The meteorite that threatens our planet was named Apophis (the name of the serpent god, who was the antipode of the sun god Ra in ancient Egypt). It is not known whether it will hit the Earth or miss and pass close to the planet. But what will happen if it does collide?

Apophis-Earth collision scenario

So, it is known that Apophis is only 320 meters in diameter. If it falls to Earth, there will be an explosion equal in power to the 15,000 bombs dropped on Hiroshima.

If Apophis hits the mainland, there will be an impact crater with a depth of 400-500 meters and a diameter of up to 5 km. The resulting shock wave will destroy capital buildings at a distance of 50 km from the epicenter. Buildings that do not have the strength of a brick house will be destroyed at a distance of 100-150 km. The dust column will rise to a height of several kilometers and then cover the entire planet.

The stories spread by the media about nuclear winter and the end of the world are too exaggerated. The size of the meteorite is too small for such consequences. The temperature may drop by 1-2 degrees, but after six months it will return to normal. That is, the foretold disaster, if it still happens, will be far from global.

If Apophis falls into the ocean, which is more likely, there will be a tsunami that will cover coastal areas. The height of the wave will depend on the distance between the shore and the place where the meteorite fell. The initial wave may be as high as 500 meters, but if the fall of Apophis occurs in the middle of the ocean, the wave reaching the shore will not exceed 10-20 meters. Although this is also quite serious. The storm will continue for several hours. All these events should only be considered possible with some probability. So whether or not Apophis will hit

Probability of Apophis falling to Earth

Apophis will theoretically threaten our planet twice. The first time - in 2029, and then - in 2036. After conducting observations with the help of radar installations, a group of scientists completely ruled out the possibility of a meteorite collision with the Earth. As for 2036, the current chance of a meteorite collision with the Earth is 1:250 000. And every year with the increasing accuracy of calculations probability of collision decreases.

But even with this probability, various options are being considered to force Apophis off course. Thus, Apophis is an object of interest rather than a threat.

In conclusion, it should be noted that meteorites when entering the earth's atmosphere are strongly destroyed. When approaching the Earth, the speed of falling guests from space is 10-70 km / sec, and in contact with the gas atmosphere, which has a fairly high density, meteorite temperature increases to critical, and it just burns up or is very strongly destroyed. Thus, the atmosphere of our planet is the best protector from uninvited guests.

 

The largest asteroid in the solar system

Such an asteroid can do a lot of things.

Previously, the largest asteroid in the solar system was Ceres, with a diameter of about 950 kilometers. Pallada with a diameter of 512 kilometers was considered the second largest, while Vesta was the third largest of the known asteroids of the solar system, second in size to Pallada, but ahead of it in mass.

After scientists reclassified Ceres as a dwarf planet, Pallada was at the top of the largest (in size) asteroids in the solar system. However, astronomers verified the size of Vesta and it turned out to be larger than Pallada. Vesta is 530 kilometers in diameter. Thus, Vesta became not only the largest, but also the most massive asteroid in our solar system.

The largest craters on Earth

Scientists have reliably established the presence of 136 circular craters on our planet, whose diameter ranges from tens of meters to 340 km. Every year, as a result of studies their number is increasing and put on the map. Most of them are located in North America, which is explained by the presence of large areas of ancient rocks and rocks.

Warburton Basin, Australia

In late 2015, Australian geophysicists announced the discovery of the world's largest crater, nearly 30 km deep, after conducting geological exploration and discovering fused rock.

Under the layer of rock found substances that were ejected from the Earth's mantle due to a powerful impact of the celestial body on the surface. The age of the fall of the asteroid, which split apart upon re-entry into two parts measuring 10 kilometers each, is estimated at 300 million years.

Vredefort Crater, South Africa

Two billion years have passed since Vredefort Crater appeared.

Vredefort is located in the Free State region (South Africa) and is one of the oldest craters. 2 billion years have passed since its appearance. At that time, there were no living multicellular organisms on Earth, so the fall of the giant celestial body did not cause significant harm to the planet. Vredefort is also considered the largest of the impactors - its diameter is almost 300 km.

Sudbury Crater, Canada

The Sudbury crater is 250 km in diameter and is the second largest impact crater. The second largest crater, 250 km in diameter, is located in the province of Ontario, Canada, whose entire territory is dotted with evidence of cosmic activity by celestial bodies.

The present-day mining district of Sudbury was formed when a 7.5 km asteroid fell during the Paleoproterozoic and dates back 1.8 billion years. The asteroid impact was so powerful that pieces of rock were scattered over a radius of 800 km. After the explosion the bowl was filled with magma. Gradually it became a valley that went down 15 km into the earth. Today, a variety of minerals - gold, copper, etc - is mined here.

Chicxulub Crater, Mexico

The Chicxulub crater is named after the village where it was found during oil prospecting.

The Mexican meteorite that fell 65 million years ago created the Chicxulub crater on the Yucatan Peninsula, named after the village of the same name. Chicxulub was discovered during oil prospecting when researchers saw symmetrical rings running across part of the land and ocean floor on a photograph.

Chicxulub is about 180 kilometers in diameter, part of which is taken up by the sea depths, reaching up to 20 kilometers in some places. The collision with the celestial body caused an explosion that caused many disasters on the continent. Powerful volcanic eruptions, forest fires and tsunamis led to the death of half of all life on the continent and climate changes.

Akraman Crater, Australia

Akraman is the sixth largest crater in the world, with a diameter of 45 km.

600 million years ago, the site was a warm, shallow sea with only mollusks and arthropods. A meteorite falling 4 km in diameter at 25 km/h caused an explosion that scattered their remains for miles around along with the soil. Gradually the outline of the crater has flattened, but on satellite images it can be seen.

Now Akraman is considered to be the 6th largest crater in the world (45 km in diameter). It is periodically filled with salty water and dries up during the hot season.

Manicouagan Crater, Canada

The crater Manicouagan appeared 215 million years ago, after a meteorite collision, the size of which is 5 km.

Lake Manicouagan has an original ring shape with a diameter of 70 km and an island in the middle, which is why it is called the "eyes of Quebec". It was formed in a crater about 100 km in size, which appeared after the collision 215 million years ago with a large meteorite measuring 5 km. The sides of the giant crater have smoothed over millions of years, due to erosion processes.

Lake Bosumtwi inside an impact crater, Ghana

The circular bowl is more than 10 km in size and is located on the South African Plain, 30 km from the town of Kumasi. 1.3 million years after the meteorite fall, when a depression was formed here and filled with water. The lake shores are overgrown with dense forests.

Bosumtwi is in the territory of the Ashanti tribe and is a shrine to the inhabitants. Africans believe that in this place the souls of the dead fly away to meet with the god Tui, so they forbid researchers to conduct scientific work.

Steinheim Crater, Baden Württemberg, Germany

The area of the landscape formation created by the impact of the celestial body 15 million years ago is a circle with a diameter of 3.8 km. The bottom of the crater is below the surrounding landscape, on which the Albuch plateau is located and in the center there is a 50-meter-high hill. The site is near the village of Steinheim am Albuch in Germany.

According to scientists, there was an explosion when the asteroid collided with the Earth, which caused the formation of a deserted area, deepened by 200 m with rock swollen in the middle. The existing lake gradually dried up and formed a valley in which people settled. Now the cities of Steinheim and Zontheim are located there, and in the center - a monastery.

Steinheim is a town formed on the site of a dried-up lake.

According to the researchers, the Nerdlingen Ries basin, located 40 km away, was formed at the same time. Most likely the fall of a large asteroid and its companion, which consisted of iron-rock, occurred.

Crater Rochechoire, Haute-Vienne France

The Rochechouart-Chasseno area is very popular with French residents and tourists. Previously, scientists assumed that Rochechouart is the consequence of an ancient volcanic eruption. However, in 1969, French geologist F. Kraut was able to find traces of the impact of a celestial body that fell here 214 million years ago.

Over the past centuries, many rocks and formations have been used in the construction of houses, so a clear circle of the crater is not visible. The estimated weight of the meteorite is at least 6 billion tons.

Popigai

This Siberian crater shares fourth place with the crater Manikuagan. Its age is about 35 million years, and its diameter is 100 kilometers. The crater area is virtually uninhabited, the only inhabited point - the village Popigay.

As a result of geological exploration, diamond deposits were discovered in the area of the crater.

Scientists believe that another mass extinction of early mammals in Europe, known as the Eocene-Oligocene extinction, occurred because of the asteroid that formed this huge crater.

Chesapeake Bay

A crater called Chesapeake Bay formed 35 million years ago when a huge asteroid hit the east coast of North America. It is the best-preserved marine impact crater and is now the largest impact crater in the U.S. The appearance of the crater influenced the shape of the Chesapeake Bay.

Puchezh-Katunsky

One of the largest craters on the planet, the Puchezh-Katunsky crater is located in present-day Russia. It was formed by a meteorite that fell 167 million years ago in the mid-Jurassic period. The crater, hardly visible today, can be seen from space by various vegetation. The meteorite impact with the Earth in this location did not lead to species extinction.

Morokweng

This crater was formed by a meteorite falling 5 km in diameter about 145 million years ago. It is located in South Africa near the town of Morokweng, near the Botswana border.

The impact created a crater about 70 km in diameter. It was discovered in 1994 due to magnetic field anomalies. The crater ring has been erased over millions of years and is now under the sand. In 2006, during drilling a meteorite fragment was found that had a diameter of about 25 cm at a depth of 770 meters.

Karsky

This is another large crater located in Russia, in the Nenets Autonomous District. Apparently, after a meteorite fell 70 million years ago, a crater with a diameter of 120 kilometers was formed at this site, but today it is hardly visible, because it has been seriously eroded

Inverted Dome Crater, Utah, USA

Its name fully reflects the appearance of an unusual landscape formation 10 km in diameter, located in Canyonlands National Park. "Dome" is located near the town of Moab and was recognized as an impact crater in 2008 after the discovery of molten quartz rocks. Traces of the impact of a space body with the rocks, similar to the effects of a nuclear explosion, were found. The time of formation - 170 million years ago.

The "Inverted Dome" crater, located near the town of Moab.

Suavyarvi, Russia, Republic of Karelia

This lake is located near Medvezhjegorsk in Karelia and is in the center of a large depression. 2.4 billion years old allows us to call it the oldest lake on the planet. Suavjarvi was discovered in the 1980s after Soviet geologists discovered the deposit of superhard diamonds (they are called impact diamonds and can cut other stones).

According to photographic data, the diameter of the meteorite crater is 16 km. Anomalous magnetic fields and negative gravity were also detected in the area.

Crater Lake Lonar, Maharashtra, India

Not far from the city of Aurangabad is a salt lake Lonar, with which the Indians associate many myths. According to legend, in it hid the villain Lonasura, who ravaged the surrounding villages. God Vishnu was able to save the residents, by seducing the sister of the demon and knowing the place of his refuge, he killed the villain.

In reality, the lake was formed by a meteorite falling on the basalt rocks more than 50,000 years ago. After the explosion, the bowl is 150 m deep and 1.8 km in diameter quickly filled with water from an underground source with a foul odor.

Lake Lonar in India, with which many myths are associated.

Kaali Crater, Saaremaa Island, Estonia

The Kaali crater is 4,000 years old and is considered the youngest impact crater in the world. The meteorite fall is recorded in the legends of the Baltic and Finnish peoples, after which Kaali became a place of pagan rites. In 1937, the remains of charred wood and formations containing nickel were found in the bowl.

The 400-ton meteorite broke apart in the atmosphere, forming a group of 9 craters on the surface. The largest of them is Kaali, the others are smaller. These geological sites are near the town of Kuressaare on the island of Saaremaa in Estonia.

Barringer Crater, Arizona, USA

The place of landing 50 thousand years ago, a space body about 46 m in size and weighing 300 thousand tons is located in the Grand Canyon of Arizona. According to scientists, the meteorite hit the Earth at a speed of 18 km / s, which caused an explosion and the formation of a deep bowl (75 m). The crater was named after mining engineer D. Barringer, who in 1902 acquired the land and began drilling there specifically to prove the fall of a space body.

Barringer crater in Arizona, formed about 50 thousand years ago. Credit: idoorway.mirtesen.ru.scientists have not found the remains of the meteorite itself, and came to the conclusion that it fell into chemical elements (iron and nickel). A large pit in Barringer, which has a funnel with a shaft surrounding a diameter of 1.2 km, is very impressive and is a success with tourists.