Elbow, Saskatchewan

"Invisible Presence"

The next part of our trip takes us to several ancient impact craters.

These types of craters (similar to what we can see on the moon) are made from massive meteorite impacts. They differ from more common volcanic craters.

Elbow

The community of Elbow lies in southern Saskatchewan, directly below Saskatoon. (Incidently, Floral, a suburb of Saskatoon was the birthplace of Gordie Howe, the famous Canadian hockey player who was also capable of creating fast-moving projectiles !).

Elbow is named after a very sharp angle in the South Saskatchewan River. The Qu’Appelle Dam seen here, and Lake Diefenbaker sit directly south of Elbow.

395 million years ago, during the Devonian period, a large body hit the earth just south west of Elbow.

It left crater 8 km in diameter. However, the crater is buried underground and there is no evidence of it on the surface. It was discovered during oil exploration.

They found a central explosively disrupted area of fragmented Devonian rocks, surrounded by a ring-like depression. Later, Jurassic rocks were laid down and appear undisturbed. Scientists found evidence of disturbed quartz, a marker for impact explosive pressures.

The site is directly across the water in this photo.

We know that there were several major extinctions during the Devonian period. One can only wonder what effect this crater-forming event had on the local primitive lifeforms, and how it might have changed the course of earth’s natural history !

On the Trail of the Great Canadian Meteorites

Elbow, Saskatchewan

Elbow

395 million years ago, during the Devonian period, a large body hit the earth just south west of Elbow.

It left crater 8 km in diameter. However, the crater is buried underground and there is no evidence of it on the surface. It was discovered during oil exploration.

They found a central explosively disrupted area of fragmented Devonian rocks, surrounded by a ring-like depression. Later, Jurassic rocks were laid down and appear undisturbed. Scientists found evidence of disturbed quartz, a marker for impact explosive pressures.

The site is directly across the water in this photo.

We know that there were several major extinctions during the Devonian period. One can only wonder what effect this crater-forming event had on the local primitive lifeforms, and how it might have changed the course of earth’s natural history !

For an in-depth discussion of Canada‘s impact craters, see Charles O’Dales website.

Elbow, Saskatchewan

Elbow

395 million years ago, during the Devonian period, a large body hit the earth just south west of Elbow.

It left crater 8 km in diameter. However, the crater is buried underground and there is no evidence of it on the surface. It was discovered during oil exploration.

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They found a central explosively disrupted area of fragmented Devonian rocks, surrounded by a ring-like depression. Later, Jurassic rocks were laid down and appear undisturbed. Scientists found evidence of disturbed quartz, a marker for impact explosive pressures.

​

The site is directly across the water in this photo.

We know that there were several major extinctions during the Devonian period. One can only wonder what effect this crater-forming event had on the local primitive lifeforms, and how it might have changed the course of earth’s natural history !

For an in-depth discussion of Canada‘s impact craters, see Charles O’Dales website.

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