Meteor Crater is a meteorite impact crater approximately 43 miles east of Flagstaff, in the northern Arizona desert of the United States. Because the U.S. Department of the Interior Division of Names commonly recognizes names of natural features derived from the nearest post office, the feature acquired the name of "Meteor Crater" from the nearby post office named Meteor.
The site was formerly known as the Canyon Diablo Crater, and fragments of the meteorite are officially called the Canyon Diablo Meteorite. Scientists refer to the crater as Barringer Crater in honor of Daniel Barringer, who was first to suggest that it was produced by meteorite impact.
The crater is privately owned by the Barringer family through their Barringer Crater Company, which proclaims it to be "the most well known, best preserved meteorite crater on Earth".
Despite its importance as a geological site, the crater is not protected as a National Monument, a status that would require federal ownership. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in November 1967.
Meteor Crater lies at an elevation of about 5,709 feet above sea level. It is about 4,000 feet in diameter, some 570 feet deep, and is surrounded by a rim that rises 150 feet above the surrounding plains.
The center of the crater is filled with 700??00 feet of rubble lying above crater bedrock. One of the interesting features of the crater is its squared-off outline, believed to be caused by pre-existing regional cracks in the strata at the impact site. |
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