Meteor Crater

Arizona

                                       A meteor, 50,000 years ago, crashed into the Arizona desert east of Flagstaff and left its mark in the desert floor.   A huge iron-nickel

                                       meteor estimated to have been 150 feet across hurtled to earth at  about 26,000 miles per hour creating a crater 700 feet deep and over

                                       4,000 feet across.

                                       The photo above is actually 5 photos stitched together into a panorama which slightly distorts the actual bowl shape cavity.  

This is the largest piece of the meteor found. (Just under 1500 hundred lbs.)                               Most of the meteor vaporized, melted, or disintegrated upon impact.	Daniel Barringer, a mining engineer, staked claims to the area thinking it would be a source    for mining iron.  His reasoning -- there was a giant iron meteorite just below the surface.    He mined and drilled to a depth of over 1300 feet to no avail.
Eduardo, our guide, proved to be a very knowledgeable resource for crater history and specifics.	Photo by Eduardo --

                 To Main Page