Brent crater

Last updated
Brent Crater
Canada Ontario location map 2.svg
Map pointer.svg
Brent Crater
Location of the Brent Crater in Ontario
Impact crater/structure
Diameter3.8 kilometres (2.4 mi)
Age 396 ± 20 million years (Middle Devonian)
ExposedNo
DrilledYes
Bolide type Chondrite
Location
Coordinates 46°04′22″N78°28′38″W / 46.07278°N 78.47722°W / 46.07278; -78.47722 Coordinates: 46°04′22″N78°28′38″W / 46.07278°N 78.47722°W / 46.07278; -78.47722 [1]
Country Canada
Province Ontario
District Nipissing
Municipality Papineau-Cameron and Unorganized South Nipissing District
Topo map NTS 031L01
AccessBrent Road

The Brent crater is an impact crater in both the geographic township of Deacon, Unorganized South Nipissing District and the municipal township of Papineau-Cameron in Nipissing District, northeastern Ontario, Canada, [1] located north of Cedar Lake in northern Algonquin Provincial Park. [2] [3] [4] It is 3.8 kilometres (2.4 mi) in diameter and the age is estimated to be ca. 453 million years (Ordovician). [5] The crater can be reached using Brent Road, 32 kilometres (20 mi) south of Ontario Highway 17. [4]

A sign, erected at the site by the Archeological and Historic Sites Board, Archives of Ontario, reads:

The Brent Crater: First recognized in 1951 from aerial photographs, the crater is a circular depression about two miles in diameter formed in Precambrian crystalline rocks. Geophysical and diamond drilling investigations show that the crater has a present depth of about 1,400 feet but is partly filled with sedimentary rocks with a thickness of 900 feet. The rocks beneath the crater floor are thoroughly fragmented over a depth of 2,000 feet. Like the similar New Quebec (Chubb) crater, the Brent crater is attributed to the high speed impact of a giant meteorite. It is calculated that the impact released energy equaling 250 megatons of TNT and occurred about 450 million years ago when this area was probably covered by a shallow sea. [3] [4]

There is an observation tower on the rim of the crater. The old wooden tower was demolished in July 2007, because it was not safe to use due to its age. A new tower has been built on a hill directly across the Brent Road from the demolished tower. The new tower on the hill offers a much better panorama of the entire crater. Parking will also be increased as part of the new tower improvements. There is a hiking trail leading to the crater floor. There are two small lakes, Gilmour and Tecumseh, located in the crater. Unlike most Algonquin Park lakes, which are usually acidic, the water in these lakes contains bicarbonate; this is thought to be a result of some sedimentary deposits of limestone escaping removal by glaciers in the lower parts of the crater.

The crater lies in the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben, a 452 million year old rift valley.

The crater was named after the nearby village of Brent.

Brent Crater - panoramio.jpg
Brent Crater

Related Research Articles

Algonquin Provincial Park Protected area of Ontario

Algonquin Provincial Park is a provincial park located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River in Ontario, Canada, mostly within the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District. Established in 1893, it is the oldest provincial park in Canada. Additions since its creation have increased the park to its current size of about 7,653 square kilometres (2,955 sq mi). The park is contiguous with several smaller, administratively separate provincial parks that protect important rivers in the area, resulting in a larger total protected area.

Acanthus, Ontario Place in Ontario, Canada

Acanthus is an unincorporated place and former railway point in geographic Deacon Township in the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District in northeastern Ontario, Canada. Acanthus is located within Algonquin Provincial Park on Cedar Lake on the Petawawa River.

Unorganized South Nipissing District Unorganized area in Ontario, Canada

Unorganized South Nipissing District is an unorganized area in north-central Ontario, in the District of Nipissing. It is almost entirely within and includes most of Algonquin Provincial Park.

Lake Nipissing lake in Ontario, Canada

Lake Nipissing is a lake in the Canadian province of Ontario. It has a surface area of 873.3 km2 (337.2 sq mi), a mean elevation of 196 m (643 ft) above sea level, and is located between the Ottawa River and Georgian Bay. Lake Nipissing is the third-largest lake entirely in Ontario. It is relatively shallow for a large lake, with an average depth of only 4.5 m (15 ft). The shallowness of the lake makes for many sandbars along the lake's irregular shoreline. The lake reaches a maximum depth of 64 m near the mouth of the French River, off the shore of Blueberry Island. The lake has many islands most of which are protected under the Protection of Significant Wetlands scheme, controlled by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

Sudbury Basin Third largest verified astrobleme on earth, remains of an Paleoproterozoic Era impact

The Sudbury Basin, also known as Sudbury Structure or the Sudbury Nickel Irruptive, is a major geological structure in Ontario, Canada. It is the third-largest known impact crater or astrobleme on Earth, as well as one of the oldest. The crater formed 1.849 billion years ago in the Paleoproterozoic era.

Petawawa River river in Canada

The Petawawa River is a river in the Saint Lawrence River drainage basin in Nipissing District and Renfrew County in eastern and northeastern Ontario, Canada. The river flows from Algonquin Provincial Park to the Ottawa River at the town of Petawawa, and is only one of two major tributaries of the Ottawa River to flow completely free. The river's name comes from the Algonquian for "where one hears a noise like this", which refers to its many rapids.

Opeongo River river in Nipissing District, Ontario, Canada

The Opeongo River is a river in the Saint Lawrence River drainage basin in Nipissing District in northeastern Ontario, Canada. The river is entirely within Algonquin Provincial Park and Opeongo River Provincial Park, except for a small portion around Victoria Lake, and is a left tributary of the Madawaska River.

Opeongo Lake lake in Nipissing District, Ontario, Canada

Opeongo Lake is a lake in the Saint Lawrence River drainage basin in the geographic townships of Bower, Dickson, Preston and Sproule in the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the largest lake in Algonquin Provincial Park and the source of the Opeongo River. The lake's name comes from the Algonquian word opeauwingauk meaning "sandy narrows".

Barron River (Ontario) river in Canada

The Barron River is a river in the Saint Lawrence River drainage basin in Nipissing District and Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. It flows from Clemow Lake in northern Algonquin Provincial Park and joins the Petawawa River, whose southern branch it forms, in the municipality of Laurentian Hills, near the municipality of Petawawa.

Kiosk, Ontario Place in Ontario, Canada

Kiosk is an unincorporated place and former railway point and community in geographic Pentland Township in the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District in northeastern Ontario, Canada. Kiosk is surrounded by but not within Algonquin Provincial Park, for which it provides a road access point via Ontario Highway 630, and is located on Kioshkokwi Lake on the Amable du Fond River on the right bank of the outlet of that river from the lake and across the river from the unincorporated place of Coristine. The name "Kiosk" is an abbreviated form of the lake's name, which means "lake of many gulls".

Brent, Ontario Place in Ontario, Canada

Brent is a community on Cedar Lake on the Petawawa River in northern Algonquin Provincial Park, and is located in geographic Deacon Township in the Unorganized south part of Nipissing District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada.

Cedar Lake (Nipissing District) lake in Nipissing District, Ontario, Canada

Cedar Lake is a lake in the geographic townships of Boyd, Deacon and Lister in the Unorganized south part of Nipissing District in northeastern Ontario, Canada. The lake is in the Saint Lawrence River drainage basin and is entirely within Algonquin Provincial Park; it is a popular entry point for canoe trips into the interior of the park as the community of Brent, located on the lake, is connected by Brent Road to Ontario Highway 17. Other places on the lake are Acanthus and Government Park.

Slate Islands (Ontario) Islands on Lake Superior

The Slate Islands archipelago is formed of two main islands, five minor islands and numerous islets located in northern Lake Superior, 10 kilometres (6 mi) south of the town of Terrace Bay. The islands were created by a meteorite impact which formed a crater about 32 km (20 mi) wide. In 1985, the Ontario government established the Slate Islands as a natural environment provincial park. The islands are notable for having Ontario's largest herd of boreal woodland caribou.

Temagami Municipality in Ontario, Canada

Temagami, formerly spelled as Timagami, is a municipality in northeastern Ontario, Canada, in the Nipissing District with Lake Temagami at its heart.

South Algonquin Township municipality in Ontario, Canada

South Algonquin is a township municipality in Nipissing District, Ontario, Canada. Located south of Algonquin Provincial Park, it is the sole populated portion of the district that lies south of the traditional dividing line between Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario and is closer connected to Renfrew County as opposed to the core portions of Nipissing District.

Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben A rift valley extending from near Montréal through Ottawa in Canada

The Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben is a geological structure that coincides with a 55 km (34 mi) wide topographic depression extending from near Montréal through Ottawa. It is part of the St. Lawrence rift system that also includes the seismically active Saguenay graben. This rift valley was formed when the Earth's crust moved downward about a kilometre between two major fault zones known as the Mattawa and Petawawa faults. The length of the graben is about 700 km (435 mi).

Neighbourhoods in North Bay, Ontario

The Canadian city of North Bay, Ontario, is divided into numerous neighbourhoods.

Nipissing River river in Canada

The Nipissing River is a river in the Saint Lawrence River drainage basin in the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District in northeastern Ontario, Canada. The river is entirely within Algonquin Provincial Park, and is a left tributary of the Petawawa River.

Government Park, Ontario Place in Ontario, Canada

Government Park is an unincorporated place and former railway point in geographic Boyd Township in the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District in northeastern Ontario, Canada. Government Park is located within Algonquin Provincial Park on Cedar Lake on the Petawawa River.

Bloody Creek crater

Bloody Creek crater, which is also known as the Bloody Creek structure, is a 420-by-350-meter in diameter elliptical feature that is located in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is argued to be either a possible extraterrestrial impact crater or an impact structure. It lies between Bridgetown and West Dalhousie, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, where the Bloody Creek structure straddles what was once a stretch of Bloody Creek. It also is informally known as the Astrid crater.

References

  1. 1 2 "Brent Crater". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada . Retrieved 2011-07-27.
  2. McMurtrie, Jeffrey (2008). "Algonquin Provincial Park and the Haliburton Highlands". Wikimedia Commons. Archived from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2011-07-27. Map source.
  3. 1 2 Brown, Alan L. "The Brent Crater". Ontario's Historical Plaques. Archived from the original on 2011-11-03. Retrieved 2011-07-27.
  4. 1 2 3 "Brent Crater, The". Plaque Information. Ontario Heritage Trust. Archived from the original on 2012-03-16. Retrieved 2011-07-27.
  5. "Brent". Earth Impact Database . Planetary and Space Science Centre University of New Brunswick Fredericton . Retrieved 2009-08-19.Cite has empty unknown parameter: |accessyear= (help)