I f you are at all fascinated by Earth and the wondrous space around it, you must be curious to know more about what are craters! This world of ours is home to some of the strangest phenomena which can easily serve as natural tourist destinations. You should know how the earth is surrounded by debris from outer space. While most of it burns up during entry through our atmosphere which we consider as a meteor shower. However sometimes an object is so big it survives its entry through the atmosphere and it leaves its mark on the planet, literally. And these roughly circular, excavated holes are w
hat we call craters. Let me now share the top craters that exist which are worth a visit:
Barringer Crater (Arizona, USA)
Also known as Meteor Crater, it is one of the most well-known impact craters on Earth. It was formed about 50,000 years ago when a meteorite about 50 meters in diameter collided with the Earth, creating a crater over a kilometer in diameter.
Vredefort Crater (South Africa)
This is the largest known impact crater on Earth, with a diameter of about 300 kilometers. It was formed about 2 billion years ago when a meteorite about 10 kilometers in diameter collided with the Earth.
Ries Crater (Germany)
This impact crater, located in southern Germany, is about 24 kilometers in diameter and was formed about 15 million years ago when a meteorite about 1.5 kilometers in diameter collided with the Earth.
Clearwater Lakes (Quebec, Canada)
This pair of impact craters, located in Quebec, Canada, areisout 290 million years old and were formed when a large meteorite broke apart and created two separate impact craters.
Wolf Creek Crater (Western Australia)
This impact crater, located in Western Australia, is one of the best-preserved craters on Earth. It was formed about 300,000 years ago when a meteorite about 50 meters in diameter collided with the Earth.
Chicxulub Crater (Mexico)
This impact crater, located off the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, is believed to be the result of a massive asteroid impact that occurred about 66 million years ago. The impact is thought to have caused a mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs.
Sudbury Basin (Ontario, Canada)
This impact crater, located in Ontario, Canada, is one of the oldest and largest on Earth, with a diameter of about 250 kilometers. It was formed about 1.85 billion years ago when a meteorite about 10 kilometers in diameter collided with the Earth.
