Barringer Crater Company

Meteor Crater

Barringer Crater
Meteor Crater, also known as Barringer Crater
Impact crater/structure
Confidence	Confirmed
Diameter	1.186 kilometers (0.737 mi)
Depth	170 meters (560 ft)
Rise	45 meters (148 ft)
impactor diameter	50 meters (160 ft)
Age	50,000 years
Exposed	Yes
Drilled	Yes
Bolide type	Iron meteorite
Location
Location	Coconino County, Arizona
Coordinates	35°1′38″N 111°1′21″W / 35.02722°N 111.02250°W / 35.02722; -111.02250Coordinates: 35°1′38″N 111°1′21″W / 35.02722°N 111.02250°W / 35.02722; -111.02250
Country	United States
State	Arizona
Meteor Crater Location of Meteor Crater in Arizona
Access	Interstate 40
U.S. National Natural Landmark
Designated	November 1967

Meteor Crater is a meteorite impact crater approximately 37 miles (60 km) east of Flagstaff and 18 miles (29 km) west of Winslow in the northern Arizona desert of the United States. Because the United States Board on Geographic Names commonly recognizes names of natural features derived from the nearest post office, the feature acquired the name of "Meteor Crater" from the nearby post office named Meteor. The site was formerly known as the Canyon Diablo Crater and fragments of the meteorite are officially called the Canyon Diablo Meteorite. Scientists refer to the crater as Barringer Crater in honor of Daniel Barringer, who was first to suggest that it was produced by meteorite impact. The crater is privately owned by the Barringer family through their Barringer Crater Company, which proclaims it to be the "best preserved meteorite crater on Earth".

Despite its importance as a geological site, the crater is not protected as a national monument, a status that would require federal ownership. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in November 1967.

Meteor Crater lies at an elevation of about 1,740 m (5,710 ft) above sea level. It is about 1,200 m (3,900 ft) in diameter, some 170 m (560 ft) deep, and is surrounded by a rim that rises 45 m (148 ft) above the surrounding plains. The center of the crater is filled with 210–240 m (690–790 ft) of rubble lying above crater bedrock. One of the interesting features of the crater is its squared-off outline, believed to be caused by existing regional jointing (cracks) in the strata at the impact site.

The crater was created about 50,000 years ago during the epoch, when the local climate on the Colorado Plateau was much cooler and damper. The area was an open grassland dotted with woodlands inhabited by woolly mammoths and giant ground sloths.