New Impact Crater in the Arctic Discovered
Source: annesastronomynews.com
Researchers from the University of Saskatchewan and the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) have discovered a massive meteor impact from millions of years ago in Canada’s western Arctic.Located on the northwestern part of Victoria Island, the impact crater, or astrobleme, is about 25 km wide and is Canada’s 30th known meteorite impact feature.
“It’s another piece of the cosmic Earth puzzle,” explained U of S geology professor Brian Pratt, who made the discovery with GSC colleague Keith Dewing. “Impact craters like this give us clues into how the Earth’s crust is recycled and the speed of erosion, and may be implicated in episodes of widespread extinction of animals in the geological past.”
View from the helicopter of river gorge cut into the flat tundra of northwestern Victoria Island, with the frozen Arctic Ocean and Banks Island in the distance.
View looking down on a bed showing interfering shatter cones radiating downwards (away from the strike). The shatter cone surface consists of radiating ridges and grooves. Swiss army knife for scale.
The researchers discovered the crater two summers ago while exploring the area by helicopter for the Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) Geo-Mapping for Energy and Minerals program, and it took two years to properly assemble the geologic maps and submit their article for publication. Pratt and Dewing named the new discovery the Prince Albert impact crater after the peninsula where it is situated.
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Read the full article at: annesastronomynews.com
Deformed rock beds showing the central uplift area of the crater.
