Upheaval Dome is a striking geologic structure in the Canyonlands National Park of southern Utah. The alternating rock layers make a nearly circular, 5.5-kilometer- (3.4-mile-) diameter “bull’s-eye.” This photograph of Upheaval Dome was taken by an astronaut onboard the International Space Station. The oblique viewing angle—in other words, not looking straight down—provides a sense of the topography within and around the structure. The dome appears more like an ellipse than a circle due to the oblique viewing perspective.
Published Jul 23, 2007
The dark green Unia River highlights the circular structure of the Wembo-Nyama feature—a possible impact crater in the Democratic Republic of Congo—in this natural-color image from April 1, 2000.
Published Mar 28, 2010
Spider Crater rests in a depression some 13 by 11 kilometers (8 by 7 miles) across. Meteorite craters often have central areas of uplift, and Spider Crater fits this pattern. Spider Crater sits in a depression and has a central uplift area characteristic of impact craters, it shows extreme differences in erosion, giving it a unique appearance.
Published Mar 30, 2008
The crater was formed by a meteor impact less than 70 million years ago, during the “Age of Dinosaurs.”
Published May 7, 2012
Wolfe Creek Crater is the second largest crater in the world from which meteorite fragments have been collected. Because of its excellent preservation, the crater clearly shows the classic features that result from a large meteorite striking the Earth.
Published Feb 24, 2008
Deep in the Sahara Desert lies a crater. Nearly a perfect circle, it is 1.9 kilometers (1.2 miles) wide, and sports a rim 100 meters (330 feet) high. Modern geologists long debated what caused this crater, some of them favoring a volcano. But closer examination of the structure revealed that the crater’s hardened “lava” was actually rock that had melted from a meteorite impact.
Published Feb 17, 2008
Acquired April 30, 2010, this natural-color image shows Goat Paddock Crater in northwestern Australia. The slightly elliptical crater spans roughly 5 kilometers.
Published May 23, 2010
Although Mars is in many ways quite different from Earth—smaller, colder, drier, and hostile to life—the geology of the two worlds is sometimes quite similar. Columnar jointing—a distinctive pattern of hexagonal cracks—is visible in rocks on both planets.
Published Jun 10, 2009
Throughout their histories, both the Moon and Earth have been bombarded by meteorites and asteroids, which often leave behind dramatic impact craters.
Published Aug 13, 2009
