WOLF CREiEK CRATER GUPPY AND MATHESON 



323 



(^^Hiipple, 1930), and now the Wolf Creek crater in Australia have 

 produced an overwhelming amount of evidence in favor of this 

 meteoritic origin. The Wolf Creek crater gives further support to the 

 theory of Dietz (1946) and others who postulate a meteoritic origin 

 for craters on the moon's surface. 



From the available literature it appears that seven craters or groups 

 of craters of meteoritic origin have been described (Spencer, 1933). 

 Ashanti crater, occupied by Lake Bosumtwd, Ashanti (Maclaren, 

 1931) , and a group of craters in Estonia ^ (Reinwaldt and Luha, 1928 ; 

 Kraus, Meyer, and Wegener, 1928) remain doubtful. Nininger (1948) 

 also mentions that, in addition to the fall of meteors in Siberia in 

 1908, "now comes word that a similar, though smaller collision has 

 occurred at a point some 200 miles north of Vladivostock." 



Table 2, which gives the dimensions of craters of proved meteoritic 

 origin, is of some interest. The variations in the ratios of width to 

 depth may be explained by either erosion and sedimentation or by an 

 initial accumulation of shattered rock or both. The figure given for 

 the depth of the Wolf Creek crater will be increased when the actual 

 depth to bed rock is investigated. 



Table 2. — Dimensions of craters of known meteoritic origin 



Crater 



Meteor crater, U. S. A 



Wolf Creek crater, Australia 



Boxhole crater, Australia 



Texas crater, tJ. S. A 



Henbury crater, Australia 



Do 



Do 



Wabar craters, Arabia 



Campo del Cielo crater, Argentina 

 Siberian crater, U. S. S. R 



Ratio of 



width to 



depth 



6. 8 

 16. 5 

 11. 1 

 29. 4 



6.0 



9. 6 

 10.0 



8. 



11. 4 



12. 5 



AGE OF THE CRATER 



Unfortunately, the youngest sediments in the area occupied by the 

 crater are pre-Cambrian in age. 



During the examination of the crater a few loose pieces of pisolitic 

 ironstone or laterite were noticed among the fractured blocks forming 

 the rim of the crater on the eastern side. As one descends the wall 

 of the crater, the layer of laterite, from which the loose pieces were 

 derived, may be seen in situ in the wall. 



This is evidence that the meteor struck the ground and exploded 

 after the laterite layer had been formed. Information that has been 



* It is understood that definite evidence of the meteoric origin of the craters in Estonia 

 has since been found. 



