Wetumpka crater

The Wetumpka impact crater is the only confirmed meteorite crater in Alabama, United States. It is located east of downtown Wetumpka in Elmore County, Alabama. The crater is 7.6 km in diameter and its age is estimated to be about 83 million years (Cretaceous)cite web|url=http://www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase/images/wetumpka.htm |title=Wetumpka |work=Earth Impact Database |type=HTML |accessdate=2007-06-19] old based on fossils found in the youngest disturbed deposits, which belong to the Mooreville Chalk. The crater is well preserved, including the original impact rim and breccia, but exposures are few owing to plant and soil cover, and nearly all are on private land.cite web|url=http://www.auburnastro.org/wetu.htm |title=Wetumpka Meteor Crater |type=html |accessdate=2007-06-19]
Thornton L. Neathery discovered the Wetumpka Crater in 1969-70 during regional geological mapping and published the first article on the subject in 1976. However, conclusive evidence of impact origin was lacking until 1998 when David T. King, Jr. and colleagues discovered shocked quartz in a core drilled near the center of the structure. In 2002, Auburn University researchers published evidence and established the site as an internationally recognized impact crater. [ [http://www.wetumpkalibrary.com/Default.asp?ID=207 "Wetumpka Impact Crater"] Wetumpka Public Library, accessed Aug. 21, 2007.]

References

ee also

* City of Wetumpka

External links

* [http://www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase/ Earth Impact Database]
* [http://www.auburnastro.org/wetu.htm Wetumpka Meteor Crater]