Goat Paddock is a 5 km-diameter near-circular bowl-shaped depression in a range of gently dipping Proterozoic sandstone in the Kimberley Region of northern Western Australia, 106 km west-southwest of Halls Creek. It is interpreted as an ancient meteorite impact crater, the evidence including breccia containing melted rocks, silica glass, shatter cones and shocked quartz.[1][2][3] Drilling shows that the crater is filled with about 200 m of ancient lake sediments containing Early Eocene pollen, this age thus giving a minimum estimate for the age of the crater itself.[1] The crater is not perfectly circular, but slightly elongated in a north–south direction, suggesting that the projectile struck at low angle from either the north or south.
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Oblique Landsat image draped over digital elevation data (x3 vertical exaggeration), Goat Paddock crater (circular feature in centre); screen capture from the NASA World Wind program -
The crater can be seen at the centre of this image
| Goat Paddock crater | |
|---|---|
 Landsat image of the Goat Paddock crater (circular feature in centre); screen capture from the NASA World Wind program | |
| Impact crater/structure | |
| Confidence | Confirmed |
| Diameter | 5.1 km (3.2 mi) |
| Age | <50 Ma Eocene |
| Exposed | Yes |
| Drilled | No |
| Location | |
| Location | Kimberley Region |
| Coordinates | 18°20′S 126°40′E / 18.333°S 126.667°E |
| Country | Australia |
| State | Western Australia |
  Location of the crater in Western Australia | |
References
edit- ^ a b Harms J.E., Milton D.J., Ferguson J., Gilbert D.J., Harris W.K. & Goleby B. 1980. Goat Paddock cryptoexplosion crater, Western Australia. Nature 286, 704–706. Abstract
- ^ Milton D.J. & Macdonald F.A. 2005. Goat Paddock, Western Australia: an impact crater near the simple – complex transition. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 52, 691–698. Abstract[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Goat Paddock". Earth Impact Database. Planetary and Space Science Centre University of New Brunswick Fredericton. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
Further reading
edit- Milton, D. J., Ferguson, J. and Fudali,R.F., Goat Paddock impact crater, Western Australia (abstract). Meteoritics, v. 15, p. 333. 1980
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