Kalkkop crater

Kalkkop is an impact crater which can be found on a private farm 50 kilometres south of the town of Graaff Reinet, in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The name is derived from two Afrikaans words, namely "kalk" meaning limestone and "kop" meaning head.

The meteorite impact occurred about 250,000 years ago (Pleistocene) on what is now the flat Karoo landscape. It left a crater 640 metres in diameter and a few hundred metres deep. Over time, draining water left a limestone deposit 88 metres deep. This lies over a breccia layer a further 210 metres deep. Only a weathered circular ridge is still visible at the surface.

This is one of three confirmed impact sites within the Southern African region.

External links

* [http://www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase/images/kalkkop.htm Kalkkop] entry in the Earth Impact Database