Mastodawn

One aspect of US Natural History that I think is overlooked are impact craters beyond Crater Lake in Oregon. One spot in the Midwestern US I recently came across is the Decaturville Crater Impact area in Missouri.

Along Missouri Route 5, drivers would likely noticing the rising and lowering elevation while traversing the highway. Because this is an overlooked natural feature, I think it'd be a great candidate as a Natural National Landmark.

#missouri #gis #geology #midwesternus #impactcrater #meteor #naturalhistory #history #maprelief #cartography #elevation #googleearth #nationalparkservice #unitedstatesofamerica

Miro Collas Dec 6

Previously Unknown 1 km Wide Impact Crater in China and Why It's So Exciting - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqutR88gwdY

#Geology #Craters #ImpactCrater

Previously Unknown 1 km Wide Impact Crater in China and Why It's So Exciting

YouTube

John Faithfull 🌍🇪🇺🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🧡✊🏻✊🏿Dec 3

Nice wee #OpenAccess article on the discovery of possible impact ejecta from Earth's largest preserved impact structure - the Vredefort Dome, in South Africa.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301926825002803

#ImpactCrater #Meteorite

Daniel Fischer Oct 9, 2025

Southward impact excavated magma ocean at the lunar South Pole–Aitken basin: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09582-y -> The moon's biggest #ImpactCrater made a radioactive splash: https://news.arizona.edu/news/moons-biggest-impact-crater-made-radioactive-splash

Southward impact excavated magma ocean at the lunar South Pole–Aitken basin - Nature

Observations of the shape, topography, crustal thickness and surface composition of the South Pole–Aitken impact basin on the Moon suggest a southward impact trajectory and the excavation of a discontinuous remnant magma ocean from beneath the crust.

Nature

Daniel Pomarède Sep 6, 2025

Martian Memories

Victoria Dunes

This view of dunes and ripples inside Victoria Crater was captured by the Opportunity rover, February 8, 2008 (Sol 1437); full credits in ALT.

#Mars #Opportunity #Victoria #Mars #sol1437 #rover #MERB #space #crater #VictoriaCrater #impactcrater #Martian #memories #OpportunityRover #MartianMemories #science #photography #Astrodon #history

The-14 Jul 31, 2025

Cubic zirconia only forms under extreme temperatures, like those produced when an asteroid impacts Earth
#CubicZirconia #AsteroidImpact #MeteorCrater #Geology #NaturalZirconia #ExtremeHeat #ImpactCrater #Zircon #Minerals #NaturalPhenomena #RareMinerals
https://the-14.com/cubic-zirconia-only-forms-under-extreme-temperatures-like-those-produced-when-an-asteroid-impacts-earth/

Daniel Fischer Mar 7, 2025

A Paleoarchaean #ImpactCrater in the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-57558-3 -> "we report the discovery of shatter cones in a complex, dominantly metasedimentary layer, the Antarctic Creek Member (ACM) [...]. The shocked rocks of the crater floor are overlain by (unshocked) carbonate breccias and pillow lavas, stratigraphically constraining the age of the impact to 3.47 Ga and confirming discovery of the only Archaean crater known thus far."

A Paleoarchaean impact crater in the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia - Nature Communications

Shatter cones in rocks in the Pilbara craton provide unequivocal evidence for oldest known impact crater on Earth, which struck 3.5 billion years ago.

Nature

Daniel Pomarède Feb 22, 2025

Martian Memories

Opportunity at Naturaliste

Naturaliste is a small crater about 15 meters in diameter on the plains of Meridiani, about 1 km south of Endurance crater. Captured by the Opportunity rover on Mars 2, 2005 (Sol 393); full credits in ALT.

#Opportunity #Naturaliste #Mars #sol393 #rover #MERB #space #crater #NaturalisteCrater #impactcrater #Martian #memories #OpportunityRover #MartianMemories #science #photography #Astrodon #history

Daniel Pomarède Jan 19, 2025

Martian Memories

Opportunity meets Gumdrop

Named after the Apollo 9 command module's nickname, Gumdrop is a small crater (6 meters diameter) located on the edge of a larger, dark, filled-in crater. It was captured by the Opportunity Rover on May 30, 2011 (Sol 2612); full credits in ALT.

#Opportunity #Gumdrop #Mars #Sol2612 #rover #MERB #space #crater #GumdropCrater #impactcrater #Martian #memories #OpportunityRover #MartianMemories #science #photography #Astrodon #history #Apollo #Apollo9