Meteor Crater – May 15, 2019
50,000 years ago, an iron-nickel meteorite about 150 feet across and weighing several hundred thousand tons struck a rocky plain in northern Arizona at over 26,000 mph and with an explosive force greater than 20 million tons of TNT. The impact excavated over 175 million tons of limestone and sandstone! The floor of the crater is 550 feet deep. If the Washington monument was placed on the floor of the crater, its top would be at eye level at the rim. To give you a better idea of the crater’s size, imagine twenty football games being played simultaneously on its floor while more than 2 million spectators watch from its sloping sides! This is the world’s best preserved impact crater because of its young age and the dry climate.
