Charity Shoal Crater
 Charity Shoal crater
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| Impact crater/structure | |
|---|---|
| Confidence | possible |
| Diameter | 1.2–1.4 kilometers (0.75–0.87 mi) |
| Age | Middle Ordovician |
| Exposed | Yes, on lake bottom, but covered with thin veneer of Ordovician limestone at water depths from 1–19.5 meters (3.3–64.0 ft) |
| Drilled | No |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 44°2′15″N 76°29′37″W / 44.03750°N 76.49361°WCoordinates: 44°2′15″N 76°29′37″W / 44.03750°N 76.49361°W |
| Country | Canada |
The Charity Shoal Crater is a 1.2–1.4 kilometers (0.75–0.87 mi) in diameter circular feature that lies submerged beneath the northeast end of Lake Ontario about 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) southwest of Wolfe Island, and 25 kilometers (16 mi) south of Kingston, Ontario at about latitude 44° 02′ N and longitude 76° 29′ W. It is hypothesized to be a Middle Ordovician impact crater.
The ring-like nature of this feature was first observed by Thomas A. Edsall in 1990. It was first mapped in detail as part of a bathymetric map of Lake Ontario that was compiled from historic data sets by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Geophysical Data Center, the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, and the Canadian Hydrographic Service. Based on this bathymetric map and field investigations, it was first proposed that Charity Creek Crater is an impact crater in 2001. In November 2010 and May 2011, high-resolution bathymetric and acoustic backscatter data were collected from the area of Charity Shoal and a 1 by 1 m grid model of its bathymetry was assembled by the Canadian Hydrographic Service. In July 2012, detailed magnetic and bathymetric surveys were conducted across a 9 km2 (3.5 sq mi) area over Charity Shoal.
The Charity Shoal Crater is a small oval basin with a circular rim that is approximately 1.2–1.5 kilometers (0.75–0.93 mi) in diameter. A continuous rim encircles the crater floor, ranging in water depth from less than 1 m at the Charity Shoal Lighthouse on the eastern rim, to just over 10 meters (33 ft) at the southernmost juncture of the rim. The exterior slopes of its rim are less steep than its interior slopes. Northeast-southwest trending erosional valleys cut across the southwestern sector of the crater rim. The crater floor is slightly ovoid, with a northwest–southeast-oriented long axis diameter of about 1 kilometer (0.62 mi) and a short axis diameter of about 0.8 kilometers (0.50 mi). At its deepest point, this basin is 18–19.5 meters (59–64 ft). A low, 2–3 meters (6.6–9.8 ft) high, central rise high, ridge divides the interior basin into two separate, small depressions.
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