Top 10 Largest Meteor Craters in the World:
Every day thousand of meteors (asteroids ) commonly known as shooting stars, can be seen blazing across the sky, When it enters Earth’s atmosphere the force of friction heats up cosmic debris, in a result streaks of light are visible to human naked eye. Most of the meteors or shooting stars burn up before they ever reach the surface. But if unfortunately one actually survives the long fall and strikes the earth, that particular meteor is a meteorite. We have made a list of top ten largest meteor craters all over the world for you based on the reported incidents and its tenacity.
10. Chesapeake Bay Crater
Number ten on our list of largest meteor craters we have “Chesapeake Bay Crater”. This crater was discovered in Virginia United States, the impact date of the asteroid is estimated to be thirty five million years ago. The crater was first discovered in 1980, the estimated width of the crater is 53 miles that is about 85 kilometers.
9. Popigai Crater
Meteor when crashes with the surface of the earth its impact is like of a nuclear bomb with radiation .Next on our list is another huge crater that shocked many ” Popigai Crater “. The crater was found in Siberia, Russia its impact date is estimated to be thirty five and half million years ago. Russians claim that crater site contains trillions of carats of diamonds, This site is amongst the world’s most biggest diamond site and the diamonds extracted from here are called” Impact diamonds “.
8. Chicxulub Crater
This is known as the mother of craters. it exists in Yucatán, Mexico, the asteroid’s impact date is estimated to be 65 million years back .There is no concrete date being given by the scientists on its width but it is said to be 106 to 186 miles wide (170-300 kilometers) if these facts are true it is certainly the biggest crater ever existed, many scientists believe that this meteorite is the cause of dinosaur extinction on earth.
7. Kara Crater
On seventh we have Kara Crater .It is situated in Nenetsia, Russia. The estimated impact date of this asteroid is 70.3 million years back. This crater is now greatly eroded. The Kara crater is a non-exposed impact structure in Russia, many have claimed that the impact structure basically consists of two adjacent craters: the Kara and the Ust-Kara crater little is known about its real specs up till now.
6. Morokweng Crater
This crater was found in North West , South Africa . The asteroid’s impact date is estimated to be 145 million years ago. The crater side has debris of the meteor that created it .This humongous crater is on the sixth place in our list .
5. Manicouagan Crater
On fifth place we have the Manicouagan Crater, It is located in Quebec, Canada. The asteroid’s impact date is estimated to be 215 million years ago. Lake Manicouagan is now the impact site of the crater. Even with erosion still it’s considered one of the largest and most-preserved craters on planet with an estimated diameter of 62 miles (100 kilometers).
4. Woodleigh Crater
The fourth place goes to the Woodleigh Crater. The crater site is located in Western Australia, Australia, the asteroid impact date is estimated to be 364 million years ago. This crater is not exposed at the surface and has led to many discrepancies and irregularities regarding its actual size. There are many reports on its diameter that vary from 25 to 75 miles (40 to 120 kilometers).
3. Acraman Crater
In the countdown on third place we have ” Acraman Crater”. This massive crater is located in South Australia, Australia. The asteroid’s impact date is estimated to be massive 580 million years ago. The crater is Located in what is now Lake Acraman, the crater measures about 56 miles (90 kilometers ) in diameter.
2. Sudbury Basin
Second on our list is the crater called Sudbury Basin. It is located in Ontario Canada and is amongst the second oldest crater ever found on earth , the estimated asteroid impact date is about 1.8 billion years ago .It is deemed as the largest impact structure on planet earth .It measures about 81 miles in diameter that is about 130 kilometers.
1. Vredefort Crater
On the top of our list we have ” Vredefort Crater “. It is the oldest crater on planet earth that ever got discovered .The crater site is located in Free State, South Africa , the impact date of the asteroid is estimated to be 2 billion years ago. This crater is also known as the Vredefort Dome, the Vredefort crater has an estimated diameter of 59miles (90 kilometers) making it the world’s largest known impact structure on planet earth. Vredefort Crater was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.