Wolfe Creek Crater (Kandimalal)

Description

Wolfe Creek Crater (Kandimalal) is a natural landscape in Australia, Oceania. University of Wollongong — New study reveals secrets of Wolfe Creek Crater (2019) gives its chronology as “A 2019 study reported by the University of Wollongong estimated an impact age of around 120,000 years using exposure dating and optically stimulated luminescence. This is a source-attributed geological estimate, not a precise calendar year.”

University of Wollongong — New study reveals secrets of Wolfe Creek Crater (2019) also records: “A meteorite impact excavated the crater, which later accumulated desert sediment. The University of Wollongong reports that meteorite fragments have been recovered and that aerial photographs were used to reconstruct the crater’s topography.”

Wolfe Creek Crater, also known as Kandimalal, is a preserved meteorite impact crater on the edge of Western Australia’s Great Sandy Desert. Its raised rim surrounds a floor partly filled by wind-blown sediment. A 2019 study reported an average diameter of about 892 metres and estimated that the impact occurred around 120,000 years ago, revising an older estimate of 300,000 years. The crater preserves evidence of a natural impact event rather than human excavation. Recovered meteorite fragments and the surviving landform make it a useful comparison with other impact sites; a comet origin is not established.