Impact craters are the dominant geographic features on many solid Solar System objects including the Moon, Mercury, Callisto, Ganymede, and most small moons and asteroids.

Mar 25, 2025 · An impact crater is formed when an object like an asteroid or meteorite crashes into the surface of a larger solid object like a planet or a moon. To form a true impact crater, this object needs to be traveling extremely fast—many thousands of miles per hour!

Many of Earth’s impact craters have been eroded by weathering processes, while others are either below water or have been filled with water. Bodies that impact our Earth are categorized as...

4 hours ago · Researchers have proposed many origins for a gravity anomaly in Wilkes Land, East Antarctica, but the latest evidence suggests the subglacial hole is an impact crater measuring 315 miles across.

Impact cratering is the excavation of a planet's surface when it is struck by a meteoroid. Impacts are instantaneous events. They leave very characteristic features. What are craters? Craters are roughly circular, excavated holes made by impact events.

May 20, 2021 · Here are five of the biggest and most significant impact craters in North America. 1. Location: Winslow, Arizona, USA. Date of Impact: 50,000 years ago. Crater Size: 4,000 ft. in diameter,...

Two basic methods forming craters in nature are: 1) impact of a . projectile. on the surface and: 2) Collapse of the top of a . volcano. creating a crater termed caldera. By studying all types of craters on Earth and by creating impact craters in experimental laboratories geologists concluded that the Moon's craters are impact in origin.

Dec 16, 2024 · Impact craters are more than just geological curiosities. They help scientists understand the risks and consequences of potential future collisions with space objects. By studying these craters, researchers gain valuable insights into the forces that have shaped—and could shape—our planet.

Sep 26, 2022 · On bodies with solid surfaces, impact craters and other landforms are often formed by the largest collisions. Impact events have helped shape the solar system and the evolution of life on Earth.

Apr 2, 2025 · “Before our discovery, the oldest impact crater was 2.2 billion years old, so this is by far the oldest known crater ever found on Earth,” Professor Johnson said. Researchers discovered the crater thanks to ‘shatter cones’, distinctive rock formations only formed under the intense pressure of a meteorite strike.