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Earth Impact Database Sorted by : | Age | Diameter | Name |

Wolfe Creek

Crater Name
Location
Latitude
Longitude
Diameter (km)
Age (Ma)*
Exposed
Drilled
Target Rock**
Bolide Type***
Wolfe Creek
Western Australia
S 19° 10'
E 127° 48'
0.875
< 0.3
Y
N
S
IIIAB

 


Oblique aerial photograph


Aerial Photograph


Aerial Photograph


Photograph - looking towards the interior from the rim of the crater.
40m deep, approx. 800m to far rim - click to enlarge
(courtesy of David McKinnon)


Photograph - the exterior of the crater viewed from approx. 100m away - click to enlarge
(courtesy of David McKinnon)


Photograph - click to enlarge
(courtesy of David McKinnon)

Aerial photo - submitted by Andrew Glikson

DEM Image Provided by Dr. Carlos Roberto de Souza Filho

Image Provided by Dr. Carlos Roberto de Souza Filho

Image Provided by Dr. Carlos Roberto de Souza Filho

References

1. Attrep, Jr,M., Orth, C.J. and Quintana,L.R., Chemical fractionation of siderophile elements in impactites from Australian meteorite craters (abstract). Lunar and Planetary Science XXII, pp. 39-40. 1991.

2. Beasley, A. W., Wolf Creek, Australia's largest meteorite crater. Victorian Naturalist, v. 87, pp. 189-191. 1970.

3. Bevan, A. W. R., Australian crater-forming meteorites. AGSO Journal of Australian Geology & Geophysics, v. 16, pp. 421-429. 1996.

4. Blumberg, D. G., McHone, J.F., Kuzmin, R. and Greeley,R., Radar imaging of impact craters by SIR-C/X-SAR (abstract). Lunar and Planetary Science XXVI, pp. 139-140. 1995.

5. Cassidy, W. A., Descriptions and topographic maps of the Wolf Creek and Boxhole craters, Australia (abstract). French, B.M. and Short, N.M., eds., Shock Metamorphism of Natural Materials, Mono Book Corp., Baltimore, MD, p. 623. 1968.

6. Cassidy, W. A., The Wolf Creek, Western Australia, meteorite crater. Meteoritics, v. 1, pp. 197-199. 1954.

7. Cockell, C. S., Lee, P., The Biology of Impact Craters - a review. Biol. Rev., 77, P. 279 - 310. 2002.

8. Fudali, R. F., Gravity investigation of Wolf Creek crater, Western Australia. Journal of Geology, v. 87, pp. 55-67. 1979.

9. Garvin, J. B., Grieve, R.A.F. and Schnetzler,C.C., Satellite remote sensing signatures of impact structures (abstract). Meteoritics, v. 30, pp. 509. 1995.

10. Grieve, R. A. F., Meteorite impact studies featured in Australia. Episodes, v. 13, pp. 281-282. 1990.

11. Grieve, R. A. F., The record of impact on Earth: Implications for a major Cretaceous/Tertiary impact event. Geological Society of America, Special Paper 190, pp. 25-37. 1982.

12. Guppy, D. J., Matheson, R. S., Wolf Creek meteorite crater, Western Australia. The Journal of Geology, v. 58, pp. 30-36. 1950.

13. Guppy, D. J., Matheson, R. S., Wolf Creek meteorite crater, Western Australia. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics, Commonwealth of Australia, pp. 30-36. 1949.

14. Gurov, E. P., Gurova, E. P., Impact structures on the Earth's surface (in Russian). Geologicheskii Zhurnal, v. 47, pp. 117-124. 1987.

15. Haines, P. W., Impact Cratering and Distal Ejecta: The Australian Record. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 52, P. 481 - 507. 2005.

16. Hawke, P. J., Geophysical investigation of the Wolfe Creek meteorite crater, Geological Survey of Western Australia Record 2003/10. 2003.

17. Hörz, F., Ostertag, R and Rainey,D A., Bunte breccia of the Ries: Continuous deposits of large impact craters. Reviews of Geophysics and Space Physics, v. 21, pp. 1667-1725. 1983.

18. Hörz, F., Ejecta of the Ries crater, Germany. The Geological Society of America Special Paper 190, pp. 39-55. 1982.

19. Knox, R.,Jr., Surviving metal in meteoritic iron oxide from the Wolf Creek, Western Australia, meteorite crater. Meteoritics, v. 3, pp. 235-238. 1967.

20. Krinov, E. L., Meteorite craters on the Earth's surface. Middlehurst, B.M. and Kuiper, G.P., eds., The Moon, Meteorites and Comets, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, v. IV, pp. 183-207. 1963.

21. Lang, B., Franaszczuk, K., Fracture cascade at Atmospheric entry: Canyon Diablo, Odessa, and Wolf Creek irons. Proceedings Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 19th, pp. 683-689. 1989.

22. LaPaz, L., Meteoritic material from the Wolf Creek, Western Australia, crater (abstract). Meteoritics, v. 1, pp. 200-203. 1954.

23. Leonard, F. C., Further evidence concerning the Wolf Creek, Western Australia, crater (-1278, 192). Popular Astronomy, v. 57, pp. 405-406. 1949.

24. Leonard, F. C., Is the crater of Wolf Creek, Western Australia (-1278,193) meteoritic? Popular Astronomy, v. 57, pp. 138-140. 1949.

25. Leonard, F. C., More about the Wolf Creek, Western Australia, crater. Popular Astronomy, v. 57, pp. 345-346. 1949.

26. McCall, G. J. H., Possible meteorite craters - Wolf Creek, Australia and analogs. New York Academy of Sciences Annals, v. 123, pp. 970-998. 1965.

27. McHone, J. F., Blumberg, D.G., Greeley, R. and Underwood, J.R.,Jr., Space shuttle radar images of terrestrial impact structures: SIR-C/X-SAR (abstract). Meteoritics, v. 30, pp. 543. 1995.

28. Miura, Y., New shocked quartz with high density from Wolf Creek impact crater (abstract), Meteoritics, v. 30, p. 551. 1995.

29. Miura, Y., Kato, T., Anomalous shocked quartz in Australian impact craters (abstract). Meteoritics, v. 26, pp. 373. 1991.

30. Poelchau, M. H., and T. Kenkmann, Asymmetric signatures in simple craters as an indicator for an oblique impact direction. Meteorics & Planetary Science, v. 43, pp 2059-2072. 2008.

31. Reeves, F., Chalmers, R. O., Wolf Creek crater. Australian Journal of Science, v. 11, pp. 154-156. 1949.

32. Robertson, P. B., Grieve, R. A. F., Impact structures in Canada: Their recognition and characteristics. Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, v. 69, pp. 1-21. 1975.

33. Roddy, D. J., Shoemaker, E.M., Shoemaker, C.S. and Roddy,J.K., Aerial photography and geologic studies of impact structures in Australia (abstract). Lunar and Planetary Science XIX, pp. 990-991. 1988.

34. Shkerin, L. M., Round structures on the earth and on planets (in Russian). Priroda, v. 10, pp. 55-62. 1969.

35. Shoemaker, E. M., Shoemaker, C.S., Nishiizomi, K., Kohl, C.P., Arnold, J.R., Klein, J., Fink, D., Middleton, R., Kubik, P.W. and Sharma,P., Ages of Australian meteorite craters - A preliminary report (abstract). Meteoritics, v. 25, pp. 409. 1990.

36. Shoemaker, E. M., Shoemaker, C. S., Impact structures of Australia (1987) (abstract). Lunar and Planetary Science XIX, pp. 1079-1080. 1988.

37. Shoemaker, E. M., Shoemaker, C. S., Impact structures of Western Australia. Meteoritics, v. 20, pp. 754-756. 1985.

38. Smith, T., Hodge, P., Microscopic meteoritic material surrounding meteorite craters (abstract). Meteoritics, v. 28, pp. 439. 1993.

39. Taylor, S. R., The Wolf Creek iron meteorite. Nature, v. 208, pp. 944-945. 1965.

40. Wasson, J. T., Meteorites: Classification and Properties. Springer-Verlag, New York, 316 p. 1974.

41. Wooler, M. J., Johnson, B. J. , Wilkie, A. and Fogel, M. L., Stable isotope characteristics across narrow savanna/woodland ecotones in Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater, Western Australia. Oecologia, Vol. 145, P. 100- 112. 2005.

42. Zotkin, I. T., "Moon" craters on the Earth (in Russian). Priroda, v. 9, pp. 95-105. 1969.

 

 

* pre-1977 K-Ar, Ar-Ar and Rb-Sr ages recalculated using the decay constants of Steiger and Jager (1977) Ages in millions of years (Ma) before present.

** Abbreviations: C - Crystalline Target; C-Ms - Metasedimetary Target; M - Mixed Target (i.e.sedimentary strata overlying crystalline basement); S - sedimentary target (i.e. no crystalline rocks affected by the impact event). From Osinski. G. R., Spray J. G., and Grieve R. A. F. 2007. Impact melting in sedimentary target rocks: A synthesis. In The Sedimentary Record of Meteorite Impacts, Geological Society of America Special Paper. Editors: Evans K. Horton W., King D., Morrow J., and Warme J. Geological Society of America: Boulder, in press.

*** From Koeberl,C. Identification of meteoritic components in impactites. 1998, Koeberl, C. The Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry of Impacts. 2007 and PASSC Files. (IAB, IIIAB, IIIB, IIID - Iron Meteorite)


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