The Sudbury Basin, which is the world’s second-largest impact crater, was likely formed by an enormous comet that battered Earth more than 1.8 billion years ago, new research suggests.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=f9hws7R5Aaw
What made the Sudbury crater?
The Sudbury Basin or Structure was formed by the impact of a 10 km meteorite. This is the second largest impact crater in the world. The original crater is guessed to be about 250 km in diameter. Impact occurred about 1.85 billion years ago.
When was the Sudbury crater formed?
about 1.8 billion years ago
But few craters are as large or as old. The object responsible for creating Sudbury Basin crashed into Earth about 1.8 billion years ago. That makes this crater in Canada fifty times older than Popigai—one of the world’s most well-preserved craters—which was created a mere 36 million years ago.
What kind of impact created the Sudbury Basin?
meteorite impact
Reports published in the late 1960s described geological features that were said to be distinctive of meteorite impact, including shatter cones and shock-deformed quartz crystals in the underlying rock. Geologists reached consensus by about 1970 that the Sudbury basin was formed by a meteorite impact.
Was Sudbury hit by a meteor?
A meteorite believed to be 10 to 16 kilometres in diameter hurtles from space striking the area now known as Sudbury, Ontario (700 kilometres away)! An impact crater 250 kilometres wide is created, which forms the second biggest known crater on our planet (Figure 2).
What’s the biggest crater on Earth?
the Vredefort crater
At roughly 62 miles (100 kilometers) in diameter, the Vredefort crater, located near the present-day city of Johannesburg, South Africa, is the largest and oldest-known impact crater on the planet.
Why are the rocks black in Sudbury?
Greater Sudbury’s rocks are not naturally black – rather, rock surfaces were stained black by early mining practices. Early smelter emissions contained sulphur dioxide and metal particulate.
What is the Sudbury incident?
“Information provided was that two individuals had been in a verbal argument where a man made racial slurs towards another customer resulting in a physical altercation between the two individuals outside of the store,” police said in a news release. “The investigation into the incident is ongoing.”
Why did NASA train in Sudbury?
Sudbury’s reputation for its infertile landscape was cemented in 1971 and ’72 when NASA sent its astronauts to train in Sudbury for the Apollo 16 and 17 missions, due to its apparent resemblance to the terrain of the moon.
Where is the biggest meteor crater on Earth?
South Africa
About 2 billion years ago, an impactor hurtled toward Earth, crashing into the planet in an area near present-day Johannesburg, South Africa, and forming the Vredefort crater – the biggest and oldest terrestrial impact crater known so far.
Why does Canada have so many impact craters?
About 290 million years ago, two large meteorites crashed into Earth and formed the two impact craters the make up this lake system in Quebec’s largest national park. Originally close to the equator, these craters were slowly pushed into northern Canada by millions of years of plate tectonics.
What is Sudbury on known for?
With nine operating mines, two mills, two smelters, and a nickel refinery, Sudbury is arguably the hard rock mining capital of the world. Sudbury is home to a major geological structure in Ontario, Canada called the Sudbury Basin which is the third-largest crater on Earth, as well as one of the oldest.
What is the history of Sudbury?
Sudbury’s origins can be traced back to 1883 and the development of the transnational railway. Part of the westward expansion of the Canadian Pacific rail line, the area was intended only to serve as a temporary work camp for transient railway workers.
Why did Sudbury look like the moon?
Astronauts got mock equipment
“They rigged up the astronauts, Young and Duke, with mock equipment. Some of it worked, particularly their cameras, but the rest was just backpacks and so on, which made it looked like they were traversing the moon.”
Who was the only person hit by a meteor?
Ann Hodges
This is the story of Ann Hodges, who in 1954 became the only person in recorded history to be struck by a meteorite. Every year thousands of meteorites head towards our Earth.
When was the last big meteor to hit Earth?
The 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor was estimated to be about 20 m in diameter with an airburst of around 500 kilotons, an explosion 30 times the Hiroshima bomb impact. Much larger objects may impact the solid earth and create a crater.
Where is the crater hole that killed the dinosaurs?
Yucatán Peninsula
The Chicxulub crater (IPA: [tʃikʃuˈlub]) is an impact crater buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Its center is offshore near the community of Chicxulub, after which it is named.
Will an asteroid hit Earth 2022?
It has since been confirmed that 2022 AE1 will not impact Earth and has been removed from ESA’s risk list. So, what’s the story behind the excitement, and how can we trust this seemingly ‘meandering’ impact risk?
Where is the crater that hit Earth?
‘ The impact site, known as the Chicxulub crater, is centred on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. The asteroid is thought to have been between 10 and 15 kilometres wide, but the velocity of its collision caused the creation of a much larger crater, 150 kilometres in diameter – the second-largest crater on the planet.
How deep are the mines in Sudbury?
Creighton is an underground nickel mine located in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, and the ninth deepest mine in the world. It is also the world’s deepest nickel mine, with its mining depth extending up to 2.42km. Discovered in 1991, Creighton is owned and operated by Vale.
Why is Sudbury so rocky?
Laurentian University’s Joe Petrus says comet likely created major geologic structure, not asteroid. It’s been long believed the Sudbury Basin was shaped by an asteroid that hit the region more than a billion years ago, but a Laurentian University researcher now says it was likely a comet.