The Arizona Crater That Changed How We Study Space Impacts

50,000 years ago, a meteor struck what is now present-day Arizona, leaving behind a massive crater in the middle of the Painted Desert. This crater is remarkably well-preserved, considered to be the best-preserved crater in the world. It has also provided vital information on asteroids and Earth's past.

Photo by Benjamin Esteves on Unsplash. / Elements by Canva

The Crater

The Barringer Crater was estimated to be 4,000 feet across and 700 feet deep when the impact first happened. According to NASA, centuries of weathering and erosion have slightly filled the crater, and now it is only 3,900 feet across and 560 feet deep. It is located roughly 18 miles west of Winslow and 37 miles east of Flagstaff.

The crater has layers of exposed sandstone and limestone visible to the naked eye just beneath its rim. Based on excavations done at this site, scientists believe it was caused by a meteor made of iron and nickel. It is estimated that the meteor was only 50 feet across when it came in contact with the ground, as the majority of it was evaporized by the atmosphere on its way down. Upon impact, the meteorite was almost entirely destroyed.

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Scientific Impact

The first Europeans who came across the crater discovered iron and nickel fragments along the edge of it. However, in the 19th century, it wasn't understood that something could fall from the sky and damage the earth in such a large way, and upon researching it, geologist Grove Karl Gilbert brushed it off as something caused by volcanic activity.

Today, we understand things differently, and scientists have found out a lot about the meteor that caused it. According to the Barringer Crater Company, the meteor weighed 300,000 tons and was traveling at a speed of over 26,000 mph. It is widely believed that the impact of the meteorite had the same force as 2.5 million tons of TNT, causing it to explode upon impact and leaving behind fragments of iron and nickel, all across the area.

Daniel Moreau Barringer

Barringher was a Philadelphia miner and self-taught geologist. In 1902, he became convinced that this site in Arizona was caused by the impact from something in space. However, with no in tact metorite at the site, he had a lot to prove. His initial theory was that it was buried deep inside the crater, and he began to dig. However, he never found it.

Grove Karl Gilbert and other geologists were offended by Daniel Moreau Barringer. Nonetheless. Barringer continued to dig, and alongside other geologists, they raised $200,000 in 1928, believing the giant chunk of iron and nickel would make them rich. He died in 1929, never finding the massive rock.

57 years later, the papers he wrote were finally accepted by the scientific community, and the study of the site continued. Coesite and stishovite were identified at the crater site by geologist Eugene Shoemaker. These minerals are only formed under extreme pressure caused by meteorites, confirming that Barringer was correct. These minerals then became diagnostic criteria for identifying meteor craters worldwide.

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Today, the crater site is privately owned by the Barringer Crater Company and serves as a scientific and tourist destination. NASA uses the crater for training purposes on occasion, including training for Artemis III!

You can visit this amazing astrogeological site and a nearby museum! For more information on how to see this massive crater yourself, visit The Barringer Crater Company website!

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