Wetumpka crater facts for kids
The Wetumpka impact crater is a special place in Alabama, United States. It's the only confirmed impact crater in the state! You can find it just east of the city of Wetumpka in Elmore County.
This huge crater is about 4.7 miles (7.6 km) wide. Scientists believe it was formed around 85 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous period. They figured this out by studying fossils found in the rocks there.
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What is an Impact Crater?
An impact crater is a big bowl-shaped hole left on a planet's surface. It's made when a large space rock, like a meteorite, crashes into it. These impacts happen at incredibly high speeds.
How the Wetumpka Crater Formed
Imagine a giant space rock, like a meteorite, hurtling towards Earth! The one that created the Wetumpka crater was huge, about 1,100 feet (335 meters) across.
When it hit, this area was covered by a shallow sea, about 300–400 feet (90–120 meters) deep. The meteorite likely crashed into the sea at an angle, coming from the northeast. This massive impact created the crater we see today.
A Well-Preserved Site
Even after millions of years, the Wetumpka crater is still quite well-preserved. You can still see parts of its original rim and special rocks called breccia. Breccia is a type of rock made of broken pieces cemented together. It forms when the force of an impact shatters rocks.
However, it's hard to see much of the crater up close. Most of it is covered by plants and soil. Also, nearly all of the crater is on private land.
Discovery and Confirmation
The Wetumpka Crater was first discovered by a geologist named Thornton L. Neathery. He found it between 1969 and 1970 while mapping the area. He even wrote the first article about it in 1976.
But to prove it was truly an impact crater, scientists needed more evidence. In 1998, David T. King, Jr. and his team found something important. They discovered shocked quartz in a rock sample taken from the center of the crater. Shocked quartz is a type of quartz that has been changed by the extreme pressure of a meteorite impact. Finding it is strong proof of an impact event.
Finally, in 2002, researchers from Auburn University published more evidence. This confirmed the site as an internationally recognized impact crater.
