Meteor Crater
Dr. Jim Garvin is hiking along the top of the outer rim of large crater caused by an impact by an iron meteorite over 30,000 years ago. Barringer Crater or Meteor Crater is a simple crater shaped like a bowl that is about one kilometer wide in all directions. The hale formed by the impact is about 200 meters deep.
After the meteorite hit the surface of the Arizona desert, some of the rocks were pushed up along the edge to form a rim around the crater.
Scientists that study craters on Earth , Mars and other planetary surfaces use images taken by special cameras (sensors). These images help them study what happened to the rocks and soil after they have been hit by meteorites. The rocks and soil have their own unique characteristics that can be represented in the image as different colors. The types of rocks and soil in and around Meteor Crater consists of sandstone, limestone and small pieces of these rocks. |
