Barringer Crater (Meteor Crater): the first recognised impact crater
Cráter Barringer (Meteor Crater): primer cráter de impacto reconocido
- Date
- 1903-1960 · confidence medium
- Place
- Barringer Crater, Arizona, United States
- Credited to
- Daniel Barringer; Eugene Shoemaker (confirmation)
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Daniel Barringer argued from 1903 that the Arizona crater had been excavated by an iron meteorite, against Gilbert's volcanic explanation, and the debate was not closed until 1960, when Shoemaker found coesite and an inverted rim structure typical of impact. It was proof that impact craters exist on Earth.
Gilbert (1891) attributed it to a steam explosion; Barringer drilled the crater looking for the meteorite, which was not where he expected, and he died in 1929 before seeing it confirmed. The date 1906 corresponds to his main paper.
What it led to
- criteria for recognising impacts (coesite, shocked quartz)
- identification of structures such as the Ries and later Chicxulub