Fact of the day : Meteorite craters

 

If you are not a geologist or an amateur of the field, it might have slipped your ears that Estonia should be famous for its meteorite craters, located in its islands of Saarema and Hiiuma. Compared to other countries, Estonia has a large number of young, postglacial period small craters. Luckily, the geological surroundings of the region are of beningant conditions for preserving these youngsters.

It is important to note, that meteorite craters are rare to be found on Earth, unlike the Moon, Mars etc. Basically, planets that don't have an atmosphere.

Most famous craters are located on Saarema island, in Western Estonia. There you can find the Kaali craters, ranging in diameter from 8.5 to 110 m. Kaali crater ensemble consists of the main crater, surrounded by 8 smaller ones, and was a result of a meteorite shower some 7600-7500 years ago. The type of meteorites that hit Kaali village were of the most common coarse octahedrite type. The crater now is known as Lake Kaali and is of 22 m deep.

 

 

References and photo credit:

http://www.bastis-tourism.info/index.php/Heritage_Sites:Kaali_field_of_meteorite_craters
http://www.saaremaa.ee/?option=com_content&view=article&id=592
http://www.gi.ee/geoturism/MetCraters_ENG_062011_100dpiS.pdf
http://www.kaali.kylastuskeskus.ee/ing/home.phphttps://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimnpwId21BlWK4EWWxvZXCOgCRC0dFRj_Y3KsFGa4ELrIwsLFh-2RLIHPvJNlviO89kTVdupraUIh0wtqZZwRXrP11BOhsL2vwurFLXDUxUPLprq_18oFAjZQcsj6VIT-o6YO5au4T8CL2/s1600/Kaali+Meteorite+Crater+Estonia10.jpg