View source for Meteor Crater

{{short description|Meteorite impact crater in northern Arizona}}
{{hatnote group|
{{For|meteorite-created craters in general|Impact crater}}
{{Redirect|Barringer Crater|the crater on the Moon|Barringer (lunar crater)}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox terrestrial impact site
| name = Meteor Crater
| photo = Meteor Crater - Arizona.jpg
| photo_size =
| photo_alt =
| photo_caption = Meteor Crater
| location = [[Coconino County, Arizona|Coconino County]]
| map = Arizona
| map_alt =
| map_size =
| map_caption = Location of Meteor Crater in Arizona
| label_position =
| coordinates = {{coord|35|01|41|N|111|01|24|W|region:US-AZ_source:GNIS|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_ref =
| confidence = Confirmed<ref name="EID">{{Cite Earth Impact DB | name = Barringer | access-date = 2020-12-30 }}</ref>
| diameter = {{convert|1.186|km|mi|sp=us|order=flip}}
| depth = {{convert|170|m|ft|sp=us|order=flip}}
| imp_size = {{convert|50|m|ft|sp=us|order=flip}}
| rise = {{convert|45|m|ft|sp=us|order=flip}}
| age = 50,000 years
| exposed = Yes
| drilled = Yes
| bolide = [[Iron meteorite]]
| topo =
| access = [[Interstate 40 in Arizona|Interstate 40]]
| country = United States
| state = [[Arizona]]
| province =
| district =
| municipality =
| module = {{designation list |embed=yes |designation1=NNL |designation1_date=November 1967}}
}}

'''Meteor Crater''', or '''Barringer Crater''', is an [[impact crater]] about {{convert|37|mi|km|abbr=on}}  east of [[Flagstaff, Arizona|Flagstaff]] and {{convert|18|mi|km|abbr=on}} west of [[Winslow, Arizona|Winslow]] in the desert of northern [[Arizona]],  United States. The site had several earlier names, and fragments of the meteorite are officially called the [[Canyon Diablo (meteorite)|Canyon Diablo Meteorite]], after the adjacent [[Canyon Diablo (canyon)|Canyon Diablo]].<ref>La Pas, L. (1943). [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1943PA.....51R.339L "Remarks on four notes recently published by C. C. Wylie"], ''Popular Astronomy'', vol. 51, p. 341</ref>

Meteor Crater lies at an elevation of {{convert|1719|m|ft|abbr=on|order=flip}} above sea level.<ref>Images of America: Meteor Crater (p. 107), Neal F. Davis, Arcadia Publishing, 2016. {{ISBN|978-1467116183}}.</ref> It is about {{convert|1200|m|ft|abbr=on|order=flip}} in diameter, some {{convert|170|m|ft|abbr=on|order=flip}} deep, and is surrounded by a rim that rises {{convert|45|m|ft|abbr=on|order=flip}} above the surrounding plains. The center of the crater is filled with {{convert|210|–|240|m|ft|abbr=on|order=flip}} of rubble lying above crater bedrock.<ref name="EID"/> One of the features of the crater is its squared-off outline, believed to be caused by existing regional [[joint (geology)|jointing]] (cracks) in the strata at the impact site.<ref>{{cite book|title=Guidebook to the Geology of Meteor Crater, Arizona|last=Shoemaker |first=Eugene M. |author2=Susan W. Kieffer |date=1979 |publisher=Center for Meteorite Studies, Arizona State University |location=Tempe, Arizona |page=45}}</ref>

Despite an attempt to make the crater a public landmark,<ref name=Plotkin>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1945-5100.2008.tb00640.x |last=Plotkin |first=H. |author2=Roy S. Clarke Jr. |date=2010 |title=Harvey Nininger's 1948 attempt to nationalize Meteor Crater |journal=Meteoritics & Planetary Science |volume=43 |issue=10 |pages=1741–1756|doi-access=free }}</ref> the crater remains privately owned by the Barringer family to the present day through their Barringer Crater Company. The [[Lunar and Planetary Institute]], the [[American Museum of Natural History]], and other science institutes proclaim it to be the "best-preserved meteorite crater on Earth".<ref>{{cite web |title=LPI Resources |url=https://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/books/barringer_crater_guidebook/flyover/#:~:text=Barringer%20Meteorite%20Crater%20(aka%20Meteor,cratered%20terrains%20on%20other%20planets |website=Lunar and Planetary Institute |access-date=24 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Author Ross Hall of Meteorites |url=https://research.amnh.org/~debel/eduSource1/HoM/MetHall1.html#impacts |website=American Museum of Natural History |access-date=24 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.meteorcrater.com/ |title=Meteor Crater |publisher=Meteor Crater |access-date=2012-11-24}}</ref> It was designated a [[National Natural Landmark]] in November 1967.<ref name=nps_nnl>{{cite web|title=Barringer Meteor Crater|url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nnlandmarks/site.htm?Site=BAME-AZ|publisher=US Dept of Interior, National Park Service|access-date=19 February 2013|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305012402/http://www.nature.nps.gov/nnl/site.cfm?Site=BAME-AZ|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Formation==
[[File:meteoroid_size_comparison.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Comparison of approximate sizes of notable impactors with the [[Hoba meteorite]], a [[Boeing 747]] and a [[New Routemaster]] bus]]
The crater was created about 50,000 years ago during the [[Pleistocene]] [[epoch (geology)|epoch]], when the local climate on the [[Colorado Plateau]] was much cooler and damper.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Roddy |first=D. J. |author2=E. M. Shoemaker |date=1995 |title=Meteor Crater (Barringer Meteorite Crater), Arizona: summary of impact conditions |journal=Meteoritics |volume=30 |issue=5 |page=567|bibcode=1995Metic..30Q.567R }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/0016-7037(91)90388-L |last=Nishiizumi |first=K. |author2=Kohl, C.P. |author3=Shoemaker, E.M. |author4=Arnold, J.R. |author5=Klein, J. |author6=Fink, D. |author7= Middleton, R. |date=1991 |title=In situ 10Be-26Al exposure ages at Meteor Crater, Arizona |journal=Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta |volume=55 |issue=9 |pages=2699–2703|bibcode = 1991GeCoA..55.2699N |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1253888 }}</ref> The area was an open grassland dotted with woodlands inhabited by [[mammoth]]s and [[ground sloth|giant ground sloths]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kring|first=David|title=Air blast produced by the Meteor Crater impact event and a reconstruction of the affected environment|journal=Meteoritics and Planetary Science|volume=32|issue=4|pages=517–30|doi=10.1111/j.1945-5100.1997.tb01297.x|year=1997|bibcode=1997M&PS...32..517K|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Kring|first=David|title=Barringer Meteor Crater and Its Environment|url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/science/kring/epo_web/impact_cratering/enviropages/Barringer/barringerstartpage.html|publisher=Lunar and Planetary Institute|access-date=2014-02-12}}</ref>

The object that excavated the crater was a [[nickel]]-[[iron]] meteorite about {{convert|50|m|ft|abbr=on|order=flip}} across. The speed of the impact has been a subject of some debate. Modeling initially suggested that the meteorite struck at up to {{cvt|20|km/s|mph||order=flip|abbr=on}}, but more recent research suggests the impact was substantially slower, at {{cvt|12.8|km/s|mph||order=flip|abbr=on}}. About half of the impactor's bulk is believed to have been vaporized during its descent through the atmosphere.<ref name="r1">{{cite journal| author=Melosh HJ| author2=Collins GS| title=Planetary science: Meteor Crater formed by low-velocity impact | journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] | volume=434 | issue=7030 | date=2005 | page=157 | pmid=15758988 | doi=10.1038/434157a |bibcode = 2005Natur.434..157M| s2cid=2126679| doi-access=free }}</ref> Impact energy has been estimated at 10 [[TNT equivalent|megatons TNT<sub>e</sub>]]. The meteorite was mostly vaporized upon impact, leaving few remains in the crater.<ref>Schaber, Gerald G. [https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1190/of2005-1190.pdf "The U.S. Geological Survey, Branch of Astrogeology – A Chronology of Activities from Conception through the End of Project Apollo (1960–1973)"], 2005, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2005-1190. (PDF)</ref>

Since the crater's formation, the rim is thought to have lost {{convert|15|–|20|m|ft|abbr=on|order=flip|round=5}} of height at the rim crest as a result of natural [[erosion]]. Similarly, the basin of the crater is thought to have roughly {{convert|30|m|ft|abbr=on|order=flip|round=5}} of additional postimpact sedimentation from lake sediments and [[alluvium]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1= Poelchau|first1= Michael|last2= Kenkmann|first2= Thomas|last3= Kring|first3= David|date= 2009|title= Rim uplift and crater shape in Meteor Crater: Effects of target heterogeneities and trajectory obliquity|journal= Journal of Geophysical Research|publisher=AGU |volume= 114|issue= E1|pages= E01006|doi= 10.1029/2008JE003235|bibcode= 2009JGRE..114.1006P|doi-access= free}}</ref> Very few remaining craters are visible on Earth, since many have been erased by erosive geological processes. The relatively young age of Meteor Crater, paired with the dry Arizona climate, has allowed this crater to remain comparatively unchanged since its formation. The lack of erosion that preserved the crater's shape greatly accelerated its groundbreaking recognition as an impact crater from a natural celestial body.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scienceclarified.com/landforms/Faults-to-Mountains/Meteorite-Crater.html|title=Meteorite Crater – The shape of the land, Forces and changes, Spotlight on famous forms, For More Information|work=scienceclarified.com}}</ref>

==Discovery and investigation==
[[File:Meteor Crater 08 2010 151.JPG|thumb|left|The Holsinger fragment, at roughly 0.8 m (2½ ft) across, is the largest discovered piece of the meteorite that created Meteor Crater, and it is exhibited in the crater visitor center.]]
Meteor Crater came to the attention of scientists after American settlers encountered it in the 19th century. The crater was given several early names, including "Coon Mountain", "Coon Butte", "Crater Mountain", "Meteor Mountain," and "Meteor Crater."<ref name="Farrington 1906">{{cite journal | doi = 10.2475/ajs.s4-22.130.303 | title = Analysis of "iron shale" from Coon Mountain, Arizona | journal = American Journal of Science | issue = 130 | pages = 303–09 | year = 1906 | last1 = Farrington | first1 = O. C. | volume = 22 | bibcode = 1906AmJS...22..303F}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LKu7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA7|title=The Mineralogy of Arizona|first1=Frank Nelson|last1=Guild|date=1910|publisher=The Chemical Publishing Co.|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="Fairchild 1907">{{cite journal | doi = 10.1130/GSAB-18-493 | title = Origin of meteor crater (Coon butte), Arizona | journal = GSA Bulletin | number = 1 | pages = 493–504 | year = 1907 | last1 = Fairchild | first1 = Herman L. | volume = 18 | bibcode = 1907GSAB...18..493F | url = https://zenodo.org/record/2336684}}</ref> [[Daniel Barringer (geologist)|Daniel M. Barringer]] was one of the first people to suggest that the crater was produced by a meteorite impact, with the Barringer family filing mining claims and purchasing it and its surroundings in the early 20th century.<ref>Grieve, R.A.F. (1990) "Impact Cratering on the Earth", ''[[Scientific American]]'', '''262''' (4), 66–73.</ref><ref name="bbarr1964">{{cite journal |last=Barringer |first=B. |title=Daniel Moreau Barringer (1860–1929) and His Crater (the beginning of the Crater Branch of Meteoritics) |journal=Meteoritics |date=December 1964 |volume=2 |issue=3 |bibcode=1964Metic...2..183B |page=186 |publisher=Meteoritical Society |doi=10.1111/j.1945-5100.1964.tb01428.x}}</ref> This led to the crater also being known as "Barringer Crater."<ref name="tbcceop">{{cite web | publisher=The Barringer Crater Company | quote=The general public knows his discovery as ‘Meteor Crater’; its proper scientific name, as determined by the Meteoritical Society, is The Barringer Meteorite Crater. | title=Fascinating Science & Unique History | url= https://barringercrater.com/the-crater | access-date=1 June 2023}}</ref><ref name=lpibsp>{{cite web | publisher=Lunar and Planetary Institute | quote=Footnote: The crater has been known by several names. Before its impact origin was appreciated, the crater was called Coon Mountain or Coon Butte. Later it was called Meteor Crater, which is the popular or common name used today. However, the name recognized by the Meteoritical Society, composed in part of professional geologists who study impact craters, is the Barringer Meteorite Crater, in recognition of the work of Daniel Moreau Barringer who championed an impact origin for the crater. | title=Barringer Meteor Crater and Its Environmental Effects | url=https://www.lpi.usra.edu/science/kring/epo_web/impact_cratering/enviropages/Barringer/barringerstartpage.html#:~:text=However%2C%20the%20name%20recognized%20by,impact%20origin%20for%20the%20crater. | access-date=1 June 2023}}</ref> Meteorites from the area are called Canyon Diablo meteorites, after [[Canyon Diablo, Arizona]], which was the closest community to the crater in the late 19th century. The canyon also crosses the [[strewn field]], where meteorites from the crater-forming event are found. The crater was initially assumed to have been formed by a volcanic [[steam explosion]]; evidence of geologically recent volcanic activity occurs across this part of Arizona – the southeastern edge of the [[San Francisco volcanic field]] is only about {{convert|20|mi|km|abbr=on}} northwest of Meteor Crater.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7SvtVoa1W-cC&pg=PA60|title=The History of Meteoritics and Key Meteorite Collections: Fireballs, Falls and Finds|first1=Gerald Joseph Home|last1=McCall|first2=A. J.|last2=Bowden|first3=Richard John|last3=Howarth|date=17 August 2017|publisher=Geological Society of London|via=Google Books|isbn=978-1862391949}}</ref>

===Albert E. Foote===
In 1891, mineralogist [[Albert E. Foote]] presented the first scientific paper about the meteorites of Northern Arizona.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Foote |first1=A. E. |title=A new locality for meteoric iron, with a preliminary notice of the discovery of diamonds in the iron |journal=Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science |date=1891 |volume=40 |pages=279–283 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.tz17qf&seq=397}}</ref><ref name="Foote 1891">{{cite journal | doi = 10.2475/ajs.s3-42.251.413 | last1 = Foote | first1 = A. E. | title = A new locality for meteoric iron with a preliminary notice of the discovery of diamonds in the iron | journal = The American Journal of Science | year = 1891 | series = 3rd series | volume = 42 | issue = 251 | pages = 413–417 | url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/124699#page/447/mode/1up | bibcode = 1891AmJS...42..413F | s2cid = 131090443 | author-link = Albert E. Foote}}</ref> Several years earlier, Foote had received an iron rock for analysis from a railroad executive. Foote immediately recognized the rock as a meteorite and led an expedition to search and retrieve additional meteorite samples. The team collected samples ranging from small fragments to over {{cvt|600|lbs||abbr=on}}. Foote identified several minerals in the meteorites, including microscopic diamonds. His paper to the Association for the Advancement of Science provided the first geological description of Meteor Crater to a scientific community.<ref name="Kring 2007">{{cite book|last=Kring|first=David|title=Guidebook to the Geology of Barringer Meteorite Crater|date=2007|publisher=Lunar and Planetary Institute|location=Houston, Texas|url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/books/barringer_crater_guidebook/}}</ref>

===Grove Karl Gilbert===
In November 1891, [[Grove Karl Gilbert]], chief geologist for the [[U.S. Geological Survey]], investigated the crater and concluded that it was the result of a [[Maar|volcanic steam explosion]].<ref name="Kring 2007"/> Gilbert assumed that, if it were an impact crater, then the volume of the crater, as well as meteoritic material, should still be present in the crater's rim. Gilbert also assumed a large portion of the meteorite should be buried in the crater and that this should generate a large magnetic anomaly. Gilbert's calculations showed that the volume of the crater and the debris on the rim were roughly equivalent, which meant that the mass of the hypothetical impactor was missing. There were also no detectable magnetic anomalies; he argued that the meteorite fragments found on the rim were coincidental or placed there. Gilbert publicized his conclusions in a series of lectures.<ref name=barringercrater.com>{{cite web|title=Crater History: Investigating a Mystery|url=http://www.barringercrater.com/about/history_2.php|publisher=The Barringer Crater Company|access-date=19 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231232301/http://www.barringercrater.com/about/history_2.php|archive-date=31 December 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1892, Gilbert would be among the first scientists to propose that the Moon's craters were caused by impact rather than volcanism.<ref name=Cosmic_Debris>{{cite book|last=Burke|first=John G.|title=Cosmic Debris: Meteorites in History|date=1986|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|pages=276|isbn=0520056515}}</ref>

=== Daniel M. Barringer ===
[[File:Barringer-1001.jpg|left|thumb|Looking into the crater from the north rim: The rust-colored area on the far (south) rim is where the last drilling for the meteorite occurred, in 1929. This is where Daniel M. Barringer believed the bulk of the meteorite was buried. Rock around the south rim is visibly uplifted.]]

Mining engineer and businessman Daniel M. Barringer suspected that the crater had been produced by the impact of a large [[iron meteorite]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barringer |first1=Daniel Moreau |title=Coon Mountain and its crater |journal=Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia |date=1905 |volume=57 |pages=861–886 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31822008963183&seq=877}}  From p. 885:  "That this great hole in the upper strata of the Aubrey formation was made at the instant of time when the meteor fell upon this exact spot.  Having proved these facts, the conclusion is unavoidable that this hole, which as we have seen cannot have been produced by a volcano or by a steam explosion, was produced by the impact of the meteor, […] "</ref> The theory that the crater was of meteoric origin had been met with skepticism. At the time, the craters visible on the Moon were thought to be [[Volcanism on the Moon|volcanic]], and no one had conclusively proved that impact craters existed.

Barringer had amassed a small fortune as an investor in the successful Commonwealth Mine in [[Pearce, Arizona|Pearce]], [[Cochise County, Arizona]]. Barringer believed that the bulk of the Meteor Crater impactor could still be found under the crater floor. Impact physics was poorly understood at the time, and Barringer was unaware that most of the meteorite had vaporized on impact. Barringer incorporated a company, the Standard Iron Company, and staked a mining claim on the land, hoping to mine the asteroid that had produced the crater.<ref name="ReferenceA">Southgate, Nancy; Barringer, Felicity (2002). ''A Grand Obsession: Daniel Moreau and His Crater''. Barringer Crater Co.</ref> He estimated from the size of the crater that the meteorite had a mass of 10 million tons.<ref name="barringercrater.com"/>

The metal content of the iron meteorites found around the crater was valued at the time at US$125/ton, so Barringer was searching for a [[lode]] he believed to be worth more than a billion 1903 dollars.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> "By 1928, Barringer had sunk the majority of his fortune into the crater&nbsp;– $500,000, or roughly ${{Inflation|US|0.5|1928|r=0}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}} dollars."<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 25, 1917 |title=How Meteor Crater swallowed a fortune and strengthened a family |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/arizona/2017/10/25/meteor-crater-swallows-fortune-strengthens-family/633143001/|access-date=2020-02-02}}</ref>

Barringer spent 27 years trying to locate the nonexistent deposit of [[meteoric iron]], and drilled to a depth of {{convert|419|m|ft|abbr=on|order=flip}}, but no significant deposit was ever found.<ref>{{cite book |last= Smith|first= Dean|title= The Meteor Crater Story|year= 1964|publisher= Meteor Crater Enterprises, Inc.|pages= 17–25|bibcode= 1964mcs..book.....F}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=April 2020}}

Barringer was politically well-connected. He received a [[land patent]] signed by [[Theodore Roosevelt]] for 640 acres (1 sq mi, 260 ha) around the center of the crater in 1903.<ref name=DRO-GS2002>{{cite book|editor-last=Oldroyd |editor-first=David Roger |title=The Earth Inside and Out: Some Major Contributions to Geology in the Twentieth Century |url=https://archive.org/details/earthinsideoutso0000unse/page/28/mode/2up|date=2002 |publisher=Geological Society |pages=28–32 |isbn=1862390967}}</ref><ref name=RJHowarth-GS2006>{{cite book |editor3-last=Howarth |editor3-first=R.J. |title=The History of Meteoritics and Key Meteorite Collections |date=2006 |publisher=Geological Society |page=61 |editor1-last=McCall |editor1-first=G.J.H. |editor2-last=Bowden |editor2-first=A.J. |isbn=978-1862391949}}</ref><ref name="bbarr1964" />  In 1906, at his request, President Roosevelt also authorized the establishment of a post office unconventionally named "Meteor", located at Sunshine, a stop on the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]], {{convert|6|mi|km}} north of the crater.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hoyt |first=William Graves |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SsV204s9A88C&pg=PA117 |title=Coon Mountain Controversies: Meteor Crater and the Development of Impact Theory |date=1987 |publisher=University of Arizona Press |isbn=978-0816509683 |language=en}}</ref>  The Meteor post office closed on April 15, 1912, due to disuse.

[[File:Meteorite fragment from the Cañon Diablo Meteorite.jpg|thumb|right|Fragment of the Canyon Diablo meteorite]]

In 1929, astronomer [[Forest Ray Moulton|F.&nbsp;R. Moulton]] was employed by the Barringer Crater Company to investigate the physics of the impact event.  Moulton concluded that the impactor likely weighed as little as 300,000 tonnes, and that the impact of such a body would have generated enough heat to vaporize the impactor instantly.<ref name=Meteor_Crater_Report_I>{{cite book|last=Moulton|first=F. R.|title=Report on the Meteor Crater – I|date=August 24, 1929|publisher=Barringer Crater Company|location=Philadelphia}}</ref><ref name=Meteor_Crater_Report_II>{{cite book|last=Moulton|first=F. R.|title=Report on the Meteor Crater – II|date=November 20, 1929|publisher=Barringer Crater Company|location=Philadelphia}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1= Crowson|first1= Henry L.|date= 1971|title=A method for determining the residual meteoritical mass in the Barringer Meteor Crater|journal= Pure and Applied Geophysics|volume= 85|issue= 1|pages= 38–68|doi= 10.1007/bf00875398|bibcode= 1971PApGe..85...38C|s2cid= 140725009}}</ref> Barringer died just ten days after the publication of Moulton's second report.

By this time, "the great weight of scientific opinion had swung around to the accuracy of the impact hypothesis&nbsp;... Apparently an idea, too radical and new for acceptance in 1905, no matter how logical, had gradually grown respectable during the intervening 20 years."<ref>{{cite journal|last1= Barringer|first1= Brandon|date= 1964|title=Daniel Moreau Barringer (1860–1929) and His Crater|journal= Meteoritics|volume= 2|issue= 3|pages= 183–200|doi= 10.1111/j.1945-5100.1964.tb01428.x|bibcode= 1964Metic...2..183B}}</ref>

=== Harvey H. Nininger ===

[[Harvey H. Nininger|Harvey Harlow Nininger]] was an American [[meteoriticist]] and [[educator]], and he initiated a widespread interest in the scientific study of meteorites in the 1930s, and assembled the largest personal collection of meteorites up to that time. While based in [[Denver]], [[Colorado]], Nininger published the first edition of a pamphlet titled "A Comet Strikes the Earth", which described how Meteor Crater formed when an asteroid impacted the Earth.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nininger|first=Harvey Harlow|title=A Comet Strikes the Earth|publisher=Desert Magazine Press|year=1942|asin=B001O84HN8|location=El Centro, California}}</ref>  In 1942, Nininger moved his home and business from Denver to the Meteor Crater Observatory, located near the turn-off for Meteor Crater on [[U.S. Route 66 in Arizona|Route 66]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nininger, Harvey Harlow|title=Find a falling star|date=1972|publisher=P.S. Eriksson|isbn=083972229X|location=New York|oclc=570546}}</ref>  He christened the building the "American Meteorite Museum" and published a number of meteorite and Meteor Crater-related books from the location.  He also conducted a wide range of research at the crater, discovering impactite, iron-nickel spherules related to the impact and vaporization of the asteroid, and the presence of many other features, such as half-melted slugs of meteoric iron mixed with melted target rock.  Nininger's discoveries were compiled and published in a seminal work, ''Arizona's Meteorite Crater'' (1956).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nininger|first=Harvey Harlow|title=Arizona's Meteorite Crater|publisher=American Meteorite Laboratory|year=1956|isbn=978-0910096027|location=Sedona, Arizona}}</ref>  Nininger's extensive sampling and fieldwork in the 1930s and 40s contributed significantly to the scientific community's acceptance of the idea that Meteor Crater formed by the impact of an asteroid.<ref>{{cite journal| author=Artemieva N.|author-link=Natalia Artemieva| author2=Pierazzo E| title=The Canyon Diablo impact event: Projectile motion through the atmosphere | journal=[[Meteoritics & Planetary Science]] | volume=44 | issue=1 | date=2010 | pages=25–42 | doi=10.1111/j.1945-5100.2009.tb00715.x | s2cid=54596927| doi-access=free }}</ref> Many of his discoveries were later observed at other relatively fresh impact craters, including [[Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve|Henbury]] and [[Monturaqui]].

Nininger believed that the crater should be a [[National monument (United States)|national monument]] and, in 1948, he successfully petitioned the American Astronomical Society to pass a motion in support of nationalizing the crater by making "the unauthorized—and false—claim that the [Barringers] would be receptive to a fair purchase for the crater."<ref name="Plotkin" /> By this time, mining activity at the crater had ceased, and the Barringers were in the process of planning a tourist attraction on the rim of the crater. Nininger was operating the American Meteorite Museum nearby, on Route 66, at the time.  Nininger hoped that a public museum could be built on the crater's rim, and that the project might lead to the founding of a federal institute of meteorite research.<ref name=Plotkin/> Offended by Nininger's attempt to nationalize the crater, the Barringer family promptly terminated his exploration rights and ability to conduct further fieldwork at the crater.<ref name=Plotkin/> A few years later, in 1953, the Standard Iron Company was renamed the "Barringer Crater Company," and a private museum was constructed on the crater rim.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 15, 1992 |title=A Company That Started With Just a Hole in the Arizona Desert |url=https://njbiz.com/a-company-that-started-with-just-a-hole-in-the-arizona-desert/|access-date=2023-03-18}}</ref>

===Eugene M. Shoemaker===
[[File:Barringer Crater aerial photo by USGS.jpg|thumb|Meteor Crater from the southeast; the uplift around the rim can be seen]]
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|caption2=Photos of Shoemaker at Meteor Crater teaching [[Apollo program|Apollo]] astronauts}}

[[Eugene Merle Shoemaker]] continued investigations at the crater. A key discovery was the presence in the crater of the minerals [[coesite]] and [[stishovite]], rare forms of [[silica]] found only where [[quartz]]-bearing rocks have been severely [[shocked quartz|shocked]] by an instantaneous overpressure. Shocked quartz cannot be created by volcanic action; the only known mechanisms of creating it are naturally through [[lightning]] or an [[impact event]], or artificially, through a [[nuclear explosion]].<ref name=DRO-GS2002 /><ref>Shoemaker, Eugene M. (1987). [http://arrowsmith410-598.asu.edu/2009/Lectures/Lecture16/i0-8137-5402-X-2-0-399Shoemaker.pdf "Meteor Crater, Arizona"], ''Geological Society of America Centennial Field Guide – Rocky Mountain Section''.</ref> In 1960, [[Edward C. T. Chao]] and Shoemaker identified coesite at Meteor Crater, adding to the growing body of evidence that the crater was formed from an impact generating extremely high temperatures and pressures.  He confirmed what F.R. Moulton and H.H. Nininger already proposed: the impact vaporized the vast majority of the impactor. The pieces of [[Canyon Diablo (meteorite)|Canyon Diablo meteorite]] found scattered around the site broke away from the main body before and during the impact.<ref name="Levy">{{cite book |last1=Levy |first1=David |url=https://archive.org/details/shoemakerbylevym00levy/page/69/mode/2up |title=Shoemaker by Levy: The man who made an impact |date=2002 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn=978-0691113258 |pages=69, 74–75, 78–79, 81–85, 99–100}}</ref>  Shoemaker published his conclusions in his 1974 book, the ''Guidebook to the geology of Meteor Crater, Arizona.''<ref name="Shoemaker1974">{{cite book |last1=Shoemaker |first1=Eugene |title=Guidebook to the geology of Meteor Crater, Arizona |date=1974 |publisher=Center for Meteorite Studies at Arizona State University |location=Tempe |pages=1–71}}</ref>

Geologists used the nuclear detonation that created the [[Sedan crater]], and other such craters from the era of [[Nuclear weapons testing|atmospheric nuclear testing]], to establish upper and lower limits on the kinetic energy of the meteor impactor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://keyah.asu.edu/lessons/MeteorCrater/KM13.html|title=Keyah Math – Numerical Solutions for Culturally Diverse Geology|website=keyah.asu.edu|access-date=October 30, 2016|archive-date=November 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191121074624/http://keyah.asu.edu/lessons/MeteorCrater/KM13.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Geology==
The impact created an inverted [[stratigraphy]], so that the layers immediately exterior to the rim are stacked in the reverse order to which they normally occur; the impact overturned and inverted the layers to a distance of 1–2&nbsp;km outward from the crater's edge.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kring|first=David|title=Guidebook to the Geology of Barringer Meteorite Crater, Arizona|date=2007|publisher=Lunar and Planetary Institute|location=Houston, Texas|url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/books/barringer_crater_guidebook/}}</ref><ref name=stratigraphy>{{cite web|title=Basic Stratigraphy of Barringer Meteor Crater|url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/science/kring/epo_web/impact_cratering/enviropages/Barringer/geologypage/geologypage.html|publisher=Department of Planetary Science, University of Arizona|access-date=19 February 2013}}</ref> Specifically, climbing the rim of the crater from outside, one finds:
* [[Coconino Sandstone]] ([[sandstone]] formed 265 million years ago) nearest the top of the rim
* [[Toroweap Formation]] ([[limestone]] formed 255 million years ago)
* [[Kaibab Formation]] ([[Dolomite (rock)|dolostone]] formed 250 million years ago)
* [[Moenkopi Formation]] ([[mudstone]] formed 245 million years ago) nearest the outer foot of the rim

Soils around the crater are brown, slightly to moderately alkaline, gravelly or stony loam of the Winona series; on the crater rim and in the crater itself, the Winona is mapped in a complex association with rock outcrop.<ref name="USDASoil">{{cite web | url=https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/WebSoilSurvey.aspx | title=Interactive Map | publisher=[[United States Department of Agriculture]]— [[Natural Resources Conservation Service]] | work=Web Soil Survey | accessdate=10 July 2021}}</ref>

{{wide image|Meteor Crater Panorama near Winslow, Arizona, 2012 07 11.jpg|1024px|Panoramic view from upper deck
|alt=Panoramic view from upper deck}}

==Climate==
{{Weather box
|location = Meteor Crater, Arizona (5535ft or 1687m), 1991–2020 normals
|single line = Yes

|Jan high F = 47.2
|Feb high F = 53.1
|Mar high F = 61.7
|Apr high F = 68.4
|May high F = 76.7
|Jun high F = 88.3
|Jul high F = 90.8
|Aug high F = 88.0
|Sep high F = 81.7
|Oct high F = 70.2
|Nov high F = 56.8
|Dec high F = 46.8
|year high F =

|Jan mean F = 36.2
|Feb mean F = 40.6
|Mar mean F = 47.7
|Apr mean F = 54.1
|May mean F = 61.3
|Jun mean F = 72.3
|Jul mean F = 76.0
|Aug mean F = 74.4
|Sep mean F = 68.4
|Oct mean F = 56.7
|Nov mean F = 44.2
|Dec mean F = 35.1
|year mean F =

|Jan low F = 25.1
|Feb low F = 28.1
|Mar low F = 33.7
|Apr low F = 39.7
|May low F = 45.9
|Jun low F = 56.2
|Jul low F = 61.2
|Aug low F = 60.7
|Sep low F = 55.0
|Oct low F = 43.1
|Nov low F = 31.6
|Dec low F = 23.4
|year low F =

|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation inch = 1.13
|Feb precipitation inch = 1.02
|Mar precipitation inch = 0.49
|Apr precipitation inch = 0.69
|May precipitation inch = 0.49
|Jun precipitation inch = 0.29
|Jul precipitation inch = 1.88
|Aug precipitation inch = 2.39
|Sep precipitation inch = 1.65
|Oct precipitation inch = 0.95
|Nov precipitation inch = 0.68
|Dec precipitation inch = 0.64
|year precipitation inch =

|source 1 = NOAA<ref name = NOAA>
{{cite web
|url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&startDate=0001-01-01&endDate=9996-12-31&stations=USC00025494&format=pdf
|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
|title =  Meteor Crater, Arizona 1991-2020 Monthly Normals
|access-date = August 12, 2023
}}
</ref>
}}

=={{anchor|Visitor Center}}{{anchor|Barringer Crater Company}}Recent history==

During the 1960s and 1970s, [[NASA]] [[astronaut]]s trained in the crater to prepare for the [[Apollo mission]]s to the [[Moon]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://library.nau.edu/speccoll/exhibits/daysofarchives/lunar.html|title=Apollo Lunar Training|work=nau.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Phinney |first1=William |title=Science Training History of the Apollo Astronauts |date=2015 |publisher=NASA SP -2015-626 |pages=180, 187, 193, 220, 222, 224, 233–34, 238, 245}}</ref> and ongoing field training for astronauts continues to this day.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 January 2024 |title=Training |url=https://www.lpi.usra.edu/exploration/training/ |access-date= |website=Lunar and Planetary Institute}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=19 September 2019 |title=Astronauts descending into Meteor Crater in Winslow Arizona |url=https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/astronauts-descending-meteor-crater-winslow-arizona |access-date=24 January 2024 |website=USGS}}</ref>

[[File:Barringer crater as viewed from airplane (cropped).jpg|thumb|Barringer crater as viewed from an airplane]]

On August 8, 1964, two commercial pilots in a [[Cessna 150]] flew low over the crater. After crossing the rim, they could not maintain level flight. The pilot attempted to circle in the crater to climb over the rim. During the attempted climb out, the aircraft stalled, crashed, and caught fire. The plane is commonly reported to have run out of fuel, but this is incorrect. Both occupants were severely injured, but survived.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=69872|title=ASN Aircraft accident 08-AUG-1964 Cessna 150 N6050T|author=Harro Ranter|work=aviation-safety.net}}</ref> A small portion of the wreckage not removed from the crash site remains visible.<ref>[http://www.meteorite-times.com/jims-fragments/plane-crash-meteor-crater/ Plane Crash At Meteor Crater Revisited], September 1, 2008 ''Meteorite-times.com''</ref>

In 2006, a project called METCRAX (for METeor CRAter eXperiment) investigated "the diurnal buildup and breakdown of basin temperature inversions or [[cold-air pool]]s and the associated physical and dynamical processes accounting for their evolving structure and morphology."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geo.msu.edu/research/climate/metcrax.html|title=University of Utah METCRAX page|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423132554/http://www.geo.msu.edu/research/climate/metcrax.html|archive-date=2012-04-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.inscc.utah.edu/~whiteman/METCRAX/|title=METCRAX|work=utah.edu|access-date=2012-04-18|archive-date=2020-08-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200816025406/http://www.inscc.utah.edu/~whiteman/METCRAX/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Tourist attraction ==
Meteor Crater is a popular tourist destination with roughly 270,000 visitors per year.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://astronomy.com/bonus/crater#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20natural%20wonders,some%20270%2C000%20visitors%20per%20year | title=Meteor Crater inside and out &#124; Astronomy Magazine }}</ref> The crater is owned by a family company, the Barringer Crater Company.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://barringercrater.com/about | title=General 1 }}</ref> Meteor Crater is an important educational and research site.<ref>D. A. Kring, 2017, Guidebook to the Geology of Barringer Meteorite Crater, Arizona (aka Meteor Crater), Second edition, Lunar and Planetary Institute (Contribution No. 2040), Houston, 272p.
</ref> It was used to train Apollo astronauts and continues to be an active training site for astronauts.<ref>D. A. Kring, C. A. Looper, Z. A. Ney, and B. A. Janoiko, with foreword by G. Griffin, 2020, Training for Lunar Surface Operations (p. 12), Lunar and Planetary Institute (Contribution No. 2576), Houston, 40p.  https://www.lpi.usra.edu/science/kring/lunar_exploration/Artemis-Major-Skills-Training_DV1_2_w-appendix.pdf</ref><ref>N. F. Davis, 2016, Images of America: Meteor Crater, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, 127p.</ref> The Meteor Crater Visitor Center sits on the north rim of the crater. It features interactive exhibits and displays about [[meteorites]] and [[asteroids]], [[space]], the [[Solar System]], and [[comets]] including the American Astronaut Wall of Fame and such artifacts on display as an [[Boilerplate (spaceflight)#Boilerplate tests|Apollo boilerplate command module]] (BP-29), a {{convert|1406|lb|adj=on|abbr=on}} meteorite found in the area, and meteorite specimens from Meteor Crater that can be touched. Formerly known as the Museum of [[Astrogeology]], the Visitor Center includes a Discovery Center & Space Museum,<ref>"Meteor Crater". Meteor Crater. Retrieved 2022-6-24.
</ref> a movie theater, a gift shop, and observation areas with views inside the rim of the crater. Guided tours of the rim are offered daily, weather permitting.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://meteorcrater.com/visitors-center/admissions/|title=admissions – Meteor Crater|work=Meteor Crater|access-date=2018-01-16|language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Barringer Medal]]
* [[List of impact craters on Earth]]
* [[Elugelab]] – a smaller-volume nuclear blast crater, despite being created by an object with an almost identical estimated energy release as the Barringer event, [[Ivy Mike|10.4 megatons]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikivoyage|Winslow (Arizona)|Meteor Crater}}
{{Americana Poster|Crater Mound, Arizona}}
* [http://barringercrater.com Barringer Crater official site]
* [http://meteorcrater.com Meteor Crater Visitor Center]&nbsp;– official site
* [https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/geology/meteor-crater-sample-collection USGS Meteor Crater Sample Collection]&nbsp;– historical documents, interactive map and sample requests
* {{osmway|43104643}}
* [http://impact.scaredycatfilms.com/ Impact Meteor Crater Viewer] Google Maps Page with Locations of Meteor Craters around the world
* [http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/03/09/arizona.meteor.crater/index.html CNN: New computer analysis] shows that the meteor may have been traveling more slowly than previously thought
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060612204100/http://simkin.asu.edu/pub/earth/us/az/meteor/ Computer generated movie] based on satellite imagery and topography data
* [http://craterexplorer.ca/barringer-impact-crater/ Aerial Exploration of the Barringer Structure]
* [https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo46227 Geologic Map of the Eastern Quarter of the Flagstaff 30ʹ x 60ʹ Quadrangle, Coconino County, Northern Arizona] [[United States Geological Survey]]
* {{GNIS|7945}}
* [http://www.rasny.org/publications/fairchild.htm Herman Leroy Fairchild: An Early Promoter and Defender of Meteorite Impact Cratering] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113155540/http://www.rasny.org/publications/fairchild.htm |date=2021-01-13 }}&nbsp;– includes details of early investigations into Meteor Crater
* [https://www.panoramio.com/photo/11628188 3 Dimensional stereoscopic image pair of the Barringer Crater by Volkan Yuksel (arranged for crossed-eye viewing technique)]
* [http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/books/barringer_crater_guidebook Guidebook to the Geology of Barringer Meteorite Crater, Arizona (a.k.a. Meteor Crater)]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=ueQDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1935+plane+%22Popular+Mechanics%22&pg=RA1-PA49 "Mine Shaft is Sunk to Solve Meteor Mystery"] ''Popular Mechanics'', January 1930
* [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eTBQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Gw0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6810%2C3304269 ''Milwaukee Sentinel'' – Dec 14, 1941 "Metal in Arizona Meteorite may solve defense problem"]{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} US Govt. considered mining nickel from the crater for the war effort.

{{Impact cratering on Earth}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Impact craters of the United States]]
[[Category:National Natural Landmarks in Arizona]]
[[Category:Pleistocene impact craters]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions along U.S. Route 66]]
[[Category:Museums in Coconino County, Arizona]]
[[Category:Science museums in Arizona]]
[[Category:Geology museums in Arizona]]
[[Category:Landforms of Coconino County, Arizona]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Coconino County, Arizona]]
[[Category:Space-related tourist attractions]]