An impact crater is a depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact craters typically have raised rims and floors that are lower in elevation than the surrounding terrain. Impact craters are typically circular, though they can be elliptical in shape or even irregular due to events such as landslides. Impact craters range in size from microscopic craters seen on lunar rocks returned by the Apollo Program to simple bowl-shaped depressions and vast, complex, multi-ringed impact basins. Meteor Crater is a well-known example of a small impact crater on Earth.
A meteorite is a rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical interactions with the atmospheric gases cause it to heat up and radiate energy. It then becomes a meteor and forms a fireball, also known as a shooting star; astronomers call the brightest examples "bolides". Once it settles on the larger body's surface, the meteor becomes a meteorite. Meteorites vary greatly in size. For geologists, a bolide is a meteorite large enough to create an impact crater.
The Chesapeake Bay impact crater is a buried impact crater, located beneath the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, United States. It was formed by a bolide that struck the eastern shore of North America about 35.5 ± 0.3 million years ago, in the late Eocene epoch. It is one of the best-preserved "wet-target" impact craters in the world.
The Great Rann of Kutch is a salt marsh in the Thar Desert in the Kutch District of Gujarat, India. It is about 7500 km2 in area and is reputed to be one of the largest salt deserts in the world. This area has been inhabited by the Kutchi people.
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 structure on Earth, as well as one of the oldest. The structure, the eroded remnant of an impact crater, was formed by the impact of an asteroid 1.849 billion years ago in the Paleoproterozoic era.
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, located north of Cedar Lake in northern Algonquin Provincial Park. It is 3.8 kilometres (2.4 mi) in diameter and the age is estimated to be ca. 453 million years (Ordovician). The crater can be reached using Brent Road, 32 kilometres (20 mi) south of Ontario Highway 17.
Flynn Creek crater is an impact crater situated in Jackson County, Tennessee, approximately 8 km south of Gainesboro.
The Vredefort impact structure is the largest verified impact structure on Earth. The crater, which has since been eroded away, has been estimated at 170–300 kilometres (110–190 mi) across when it was formed. The remaining structure, comprising the deformed underlying bedrock, is located in present-day Free State province of South Africa. It is named after the town of Vredefort, which is near its centre. The structure's central uplift is known as the Vredefort Dome. The impact structure was formed during the Paleoproterozoic Era, 2.023 billion years ago. It is the second-oldest known impact structure on Earth, after Yarrabubba.
Kutch district, officially spelled Kachchh, is a district of Gujarat state in western India, with its headquarters (capital) at Bhuj. Covering an area of 45,674 km2, it is the largest district of India. The area of Kutch is larger than the entire area of other Indian states like Haryana (44,212 km2) and Kerala (38,863 km2), as well as the country of Estonia (45,335 km2). The population of Kutch is about 2,092,371. It has 10 talukas, 939 villages and 6 municipalities. The Kutch district is home to the Kutchi people who speak the Kutchi language.
The Shiva crater is the claim by paleontologist Sankar Chatterjee and colleagues that the Bombay High and Surat Depression on the Indian continental shelf west of Mumbai, India represent a 500-kilometre (310 mi) impact crater, that formed around the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. Chatterjee and colleagues have claimed that this could have contributed to the K-Pg extinction event. Other scholars have questioned the claims, finding that there is no evidence of an impact structure.
Lonar is a town, just 79 km from Buldhana city and municipal council in Buldhana district of Vidarbha region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The town is the headquarter of Lonar taluka and is located near Mehkar.
Lonar Lake, also known as Lonar crater, is a saline, soda lake, located at Lonar, 79 km from Buldhana city in Buldhana district, Maharashtra, India. It is a notified National Geo-heritage Monument.
Ramgarh crater, also known as Ramgarh structure, Ramgarh Dome and Ramgarh astrobleme, is a meteor impact crater of 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) diameter in Kota plateau of Vindhya Range located adjacent to Ramgarh village, 40 km north of Baran City in Mangrol tehsil of Baran district in Indian state of Rajasthan. When formally accepted as the third crater in India, its diameter size would be between the two already confirmed craters in India - Dhala in Madhya Pradesh with 14 km diameter and Lonar in Buldhana district of Maharashtra with 1.8 km diameter.
Dhala crater is an impact structure formed by an asteroid impact. It is situated near Bhonti village in Pichhore block of Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh state in India. It is the largest impact structure in India, and between the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia. The diameter of the structure is estimated at 3 kilometres (1.9 mi), while other sources estimate its diameter to be 11 km diameter. It is the second such structure found in India, after Lonar lake.
The Lona Wildlife Sanctuary is situated around a lagoon called Lonar Lake, which was created by a meteorite impact about 50,000 years ago. The diameter of the Lonar lake is 1.83 km. This sanctuary located in Lonar taluka of Buldhana district of Maharashtra. The sanctuary is spread over an area of 365.16 Hectares. It includes the 77.69 Ha Lonar lake. The forest around the lake is mainly Southern Tropical dry Deciduous Forest. In 2020 the Lonar lake was declared as Ramsar site. The foul smell of hydrogen sulfide gas is common near the lake water.
