Meteorite Wolf Creek – Australia
Type: Iron meteorite / IIIAB
Locality: Australia
Weight: 0,49g
Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 5 mm
Year of found: 1947
Total known weight: 760 kg
Surface treatment: none – raw
Packaging: Transparent plastic box (5,8 x 3,8 x 1,6 cm)
| Category: | Wolf Creek |
|---|---|
| By name: | Wolf Creek |
| ? Type: | Iron |
| ? Surface treatment: | Natural (raw) |
| Packaging: | In box |
The Wolf Creek meteorite is a Type IIIAB iron meteorite that fell in what is now Western Australia and formed the Wolfe Creek Crater, also known by its Aboriginal name Kandimalal. This crater is one of the best preserved impact formations on Earth, measuring approximately 880 metres in diameter and about 60 metres deep. It is estimated that the meteorite, weighing approximately 14 000 tonnes, impacted the Earth at a speed of about 17 kilometres per second, equivalent to an energy of about 0.54 megatons of TNT. Initial estimates of the crater's age were around 300,000 years, but more recent studies suggest it was formed less than 120,000 years ago, during the late Pleistocene.
Today, the crater is part of Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater National Park, which is open to the public and offers opportunities for hiking, photography and nature viewing. Visitors can climb to the rim of the crater and marvel at its monumental size and geological significance.