Veevers crater

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox terrestrial impact site Veevers crater is an impact crater located on a flat desert plain between the Great Sandy and Gibson Deserts in the centre of the state of Western Australia.<ref>Template:Cite Earth Impact DB</ref>

The site is very remote and difficult to visit. The crater was discovered from the air in July 1975<ref>Bevan A, McNamara K (1993). Australia's Meteorite Craters. Western Australian Museum. Template:ISBN</ref> during a government geological survey and named in honour of Australian geologist John Veevers<ref>Veevers Biography.</ref> who had worked in the area in the late 1970s.<ref name="y76">Template:Cite journal
</ref> At the time of discovery a meteorite impact origin was suspected, but could not be proven. The subsequent discovery of iron meteorite fragments around the crater by E.M. and C.S. Shoemaker in 1987<ref name="ss85">Template:Cite journal PDF
</ref> removed any doubt about its origin.

Description

The crater has a symmetrical bowl-shaped topography and is considered to be one of the best preserved small meteorite craters on Earth.<ref name="sms05">Template:Cite journal AbstractTemplate:Dead link
</ref> The Template:Cvt wide rim rises about Template:Cvt above the plain, while the deepest point of the central depression is Template:Cvt below the rim crest; the rim to rim diameter averages about Template:Cvt.<ref name="y76"/><ref name="sms05"/> Based on cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating of the crater walls, the crater is less than 20 thousand years old, while the pristine state of preservation of the ejecta has been used to suggest that it may in fact be less than 4 thousand years old.<ref name="sms05"/>

The iron meteorite fragments collected around the crater are classified as a coarse octahedrite belonging to chemical class IIAB; the fragments show considerable evidence of deformation presumably related to the impact explosion.<ref name="b96">Template:Cite journal
</ref> It has been inferred that the original meteorite was in the size range of Template:Convert, probably closer to the latter, now dispersed as fragments within the crater breccia and ejecta.<ref name="sms05"/>

See also

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References

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