Barringer Meteor Crater (US)
The world's most famous crater
Impact crater on the Colorado Plateau in northern Arizona, measuring around 1.5km across, and 170m deep. The crater is believed to have been formed by a meteor measuring 50m in diameter and weighing several thousand tons that crashed here about 50,000 years ago. Initially thought to be the result of a volcanic eruption, in the early 20th century mining engineer Daniel Moreau Barringer advanced the theory that the crater had been formed by a meteorite. This was proven to be correct in around 1970 by planetary scientist and geologist Dr. Eugene Shoemaker and his team of researchers, making the Barringer Meteor Crater the first impact crater to actually be scientifically confirmed as such. Thanks to the arid Arizona climate, the original contours of this most famous of all craters are still clearly visible.
Ries Crater (Germany)
Crater complete with a town!
The Ries Crater, which has a diameter of 24km, was formed by a meteor that crashed to Earth around 15 million years ago. This area known as the Ries basin also contains the town of Nordlingen, nestled within castle walls measuring around a kilometer across. Thus the people of Nordlingen live in a 15 million year old crater. Incidentally the crater museum in the town also displays a moon rock brought back by Apollo 16.
Gosses Bluff Crater (Australia)
The crater with the astonishing shape
© NASA
Gosses Bluff is an astonishing landform located around 160km west of Alice Springs in the very center of Australia. The photo above shows a distinctive circular mountain range measuring 5km across in the middle of the crater, which in turn has a diameter of 22km. This is thought to be caused by the erosion of a crater formed by the impact of a comet or asteroid 140 million years ago to leave just the center. Kara-Kul (Tajikistan)
Tourist attraction on the Silk Road
© NASA
Lake Kara-Kul lies 3900m above sea level in the north of the Pamir highlands. Surrounded by lofty 7000m peaks, the lake is breathtakingly beautiful and a favorite sightseeing stop on the Silk Road. Kara-Kul is in fact a crater formed five million years ago by a meteor. Vredefort Dome (South Africa)
The world's largest and oldest remaining crater
© NASA
This crater in South Africa is the world's biggest, measuring 190km across. In Japanese terms this means that if Tokyo were in the center, Vredefort would stretch as far as Hamamatsu in the west, and Aizu-Wakamatsu in the north: a crater of mind-boggling proportions. It is also the oldest remaining crater on Earth, believed to have been formed over two billion years ago when an asteroid some 10km in diameter collided with the Earth. Like Ries, the crater contains towns and villages and a resident population. Vredefort is also a World Heritage site. Clearwater Craters (Canada)
Twin craters
© NASA
Twin craters formed simultaneously 290 million years ago, believed to be the result of a meteor splitting in two due to friction heat after crashing through the Earth's atmosphere. Craters of this type are called chain craters, and are a phenomenon that occurs on our planet because it has an atmosphere. The larger lake of the two, that to the west measuring 36km across, shows clearly the ring formed on impact. The eastern lake is 26km in diameter.Chicxulub Crater (Mexico)
Legacy of the asteroid collision that brought about the demise of the dinosaurs
© LPI
こBeing located under the sea and moreover buried 1000m underground, this crater cannot be viewed directly, but it was propelled to fame as evidence of an asteroid collision that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. A massive crater 170 to180km across centered on the village of Chicxulub on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, it is believed to have been formed by an asteroid 10-20km in diameter. The energy released by its impact has been estimated as equivalent to five billion Hiroshimas, not only sending out shockwaves, tsunamis and earthquakes, but whipping dust up into the stratosphere that blocked the sun for a long period, and pitched the planet into an extended ice age. A number of these craters can be viewed on Google Maps. Try this site for example to conduct your own search.