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October 5, 2006
A satellite image courtesy of Jeff J Hemphill at UCSB Department of Geography, Santa Barbara, California:
australia shoemaker impact structure 30 km across seasonal salt lakes nov 2000
The Shoemaker impact structure lies in the arid, central part of Western Australia near Wiluna. The crater is about 30 kilometers (18 miles) in diameter and contains seasonal lakes that produce salt deposits as they evaporate. It is approximately 1.7 billion years old and is regarded as the oldest known Australian impact structure to date. A dark, crescent-shaped inner ring surrounds the core, which consists of uplifted granitic rocks. The outer ring is composed of Precambrian sedimentary rocks. The crater, formerly known as Teague, was renamed the Shoemaker impact structure in honor of the late geologist Eugene M. Shoemaker, one of the founding fathers of impact research, who was tragically killed in a car accident in northern Australia.
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