Gosse Bluff Impact Crater

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The Gosse Bluff impact crater lies in the arid Missionary Plains adjacent to the MacDonnell Ranges in Australia’s Northern Territory. The crater is an eroded structure that is believed to have been made by the impact of a large comet or meteorite, about 143 million years ago. A large meteor penetrated about 600 metres into the ground before vapourizing. The impact tossed several hundred square kilometres of rock into the atmosphere, creating a crater 22 kilometres across and throwing up a mushroom cloud that towered 20 kilometres into the upper atmosphere. Erosion has exposed the 5 km wide core of the crater, leaving the ''shatter cone'' rim that rises 50-100 metres above the surrounding plain.

image : NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS,and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Landsat view of Gosse's Bluff (roll-over for preview)