Arizona State University

COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES

SCHOOL OF EARTH AND SPACE EXPLORATION

Impact Processes: Meteor Crater, Arizona

"Shooting stars" or meteors, are regularly seen in the clear, starry night skies over the Southwest, bearing witness to the fact that space in the vicinity of Earth is still littered with debris.  If this debris is large enough, when it makes it to the surface, it will create a crater like the one shown to the left at Meteor Crater in Northern Arizona. We now understand that impact cratering by large bolides has been an important process of geologic change on Earth and other planets, throughout their history.  We will explore the details of Impact cratering in the following exercises:

KM#7: Impact Processes - Meteor Crater (Level 2)

KM#13: Impact Processes: Meteor Crater (Level 4)