Decaturville crater facts for kids
The Decaturville crater, also known as the Decaturville Dome, is a special kind of hole in the ground called an impact crater. It's located near the town of Decaturville in Missouri, United States. This crater was made a very long time ago when something from space, like a meteorite, crashed into Earth.
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What is the Decaturville Crater?
The Decaturville crater is a large, circular feature on Earth's surface. It's not a volcano or a sinkhole, but rather the scar left behind by a powerful impact. Over millions of years, wind and water have worn down the crater, so it doesn't look like a fresh, bowl-shaped hole anymore. Instead, it's more like a subtle, circular pattern in the landscape.
How Big and How Old is It?
The Decaturville crater is about 6 kilometers (or nearly 4 miles) wide. That's pretty big! Scientists believe it was formed less than 300 million years ago. This means it could have happened during a time period called the Permian Period, which was long before dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
You can actually see some of the effects of this ancient impact. If you travel along Highway 5 (about 16 miles north of Lebanon), you can see a roadcut where the rocks show how they were changed by the huge crash.
Part of the 38th Parallel Structures
The Decaturville crater is one of several interesting circular features found across the central United States. These are sometimes called the "38th parallel structures" because they generally line up near the 38th parallel of latitude. Scientists think these features might all be the remains of ancient impact events that happened around the same time. Imagine several space rocks hitting Earth in a row!
How Was the Crater Discovered?
Scientists first studied and mapped the Decaturville crater in detail during the 1970s. Two researchers, T. W. Offield and H. A. Pohn, did this important work with help from NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration). They published their findings in a detailed report in 1979 for the U.S. Geological Survey, which is a government agency that studies Earth. Their report is still the best description of the crater today.
