On the Trail of the Great Canadian Meteorites
People Love Meteorites
Meteors and meteorites have fascinated people for millennia.
King Tut was adorned with a dagger blade made of meteorite metal, and a yellow-green Scarab “bling” necklace of meteor impact Desert Glass. The famous TV chef Anthony Bourdain also owned a knife made with a meteorite blade. After his death, it was auctioned off at total price of $231,000 US ...
Meteors and meteorites have appeared recorded on ancient pictographs, petroglyphs, medieval woodcuts and paintings. Apocalyptic meteorites have changed the course of earth's history, and have made appearances in countless movies ( eg Armageddon, Deep Impact, Don’t Look Up etc). A popular TV science show (Meteorite Men) ran for 3 seasons.
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They’ve been commemorated on cars, chocolate bars, and bottles of beer. Chilean wine and French vodka have even been infused with meteorites. They’ve been featured in boxes of Brooke Bond tea, on postage stamps, coins, medals
Julie at the Holleford Crater, Ontario Aug 2014
These Canadian craters are well worth looking at on Google Earth ! Some better preserved than others. In rough order of age;
Holleford Crater, Ontario. 550 +/- 100 million years old. A 90 meter diameter meteor travelled in at 55,000 km/hr. The crater is now very eroded and not obvious as it lies underground. A Provincial Plaque marks the area.
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Charlevoix, Quebec. 342 - 450 million years ago. A 2km meteorite created a 54 km wide astrobleme, now well eroded.
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Clearwater Lakes, Quebec. 290 million years old. Two side-by-side impact craters (26km and 36km) filled with water. It is possible that they were created by an impact from a bi-lobed (dumbell shaped) asteroid.
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Manicouagan, Quebec. A 5km asteroid hit 215 million years old. Now has formed a huge 100 km wide circular lake. It may be associated with several other craters around the world in a multi-impact event.
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Kamestastin Lake (Mistastin). Labrador - A 28 kilometer diameter 36 million year old impact crater in northern Labrador. The cliffs of the crater contain melted rocks from the energy of the impact. Canadian and US astronauts have been trained at this site.
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Haughton Crater, Nunavut - A 23 - 32 million year old 23 km crater on Devon Island in northern Nunavut. It is used as a scientific base for planning future Moon and Mars missions.
Pingualuit Crater, Quebec (formerly called the Chubb crater or New Quebec Crater). A very round, 3.4km well preserved crater in northern Quebec, about 1.4 million years old !
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Samples below from Western University. Photos used with permission.
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Canadian Impact Craters
