Wolfe Creek Crater is a
well-preserved meteorite impact crater to be found in the flat plains of the
northeastern edge of the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia, some 150
kilometer south of the town of Halls Creek. The crater is believed the 2nd
largest in the world from which meteorite fragments have been collected, after
the renowned Barringer Crater in Arizona. Because of its exceptional
preservation, the crater noticeably shows the classic features that result from
a large meteorite striking the Earth. Wolfe Creek Crater measures approximately
880 meters in diameter, and the mostly flat crater floor sits some 55 meters
below the crater rim and some 25 meters below the sand plain outside of the
crater. At the crater’s center, the ground rises slightly. Here grows several
surprisingly large trees that draw moisture from the crater’s water reserves
that continue after summer rains. The crater was formed more than 300,000 years
ago when a meteorite weighing over 50,000 metric tons struck the Earth at an
estimated 15 KM per second. The great impact punctured a hole on the surface
and shattered rocks well below the ground surface, and the powerful heat of the
impact liquefied both the meteorite and the nearby terrestrial rocks. These
rocks now take the form of rusted balls of iron-shale that occur in the
vicinity, and now these balls can weigh as much as 250 kilograms apiece. The
Wolfe Creek Crater had been famous for long by Australia’s Aboriginal people
before it was identified by aerial survey in 1947. The locals refer to the
crater as “Gandimalal” and it is well-known in art from the region. The
European name for the crater comes from a nearby creek, which was in turn named
after Robert Wolfe, a prospector and storekeeper during the gold rush that
established the town of Halls Creek.
