Advisory

  If you arrived here by any means other than from the Index of Impacts,
it is suggested that you start at the Introduction to gain an understanding of what follows.



The Craters of the Moon Meteor Impact

Craters of the Moon locater
      Craters of the Moon National Monument is an area in Idaho (yellow circle) which has had numerous lava flow eruptions over the past 15,000 years. The cause of these eruptions appears to be cracks in the Earth where the lava poured out. While this area has had various lava flows, it is not known as a volcano and has only relatively small cinder cones and spatter cones. The impact did not leave a crater.  The area in the yellow circle above, is in the image below.

Craters of the Moon aerial.

      This was a hard impact, where a hard rock asteroid struck the Earth at high velocity, penetrating it like a bullet, and leaving cracks in the crust of the Earth so that the molten lava could leak out. This is similar to, but smaller than the Yellowstone Impact.



Craters of the Moon 50 mile radius seismic circle

     The circle the seismic wave left at 50 miles radius is very interesting and demonstrates how man has used the form of the land created by the seismic wave. This circle formed a valley where man has built three reservoirs to store water. To the Southeast is the American Falls Reservoir on the Snake River. To the South is Lake Walcott, also on the Snake River. To the West is Magic Reservoir, on the Big Wood River, which flows south to join the Snake River. In the Northeast quadrant of this circle you will note the mountain valleys that follow the circle. This is the upper reaches of the Big Lost River.   
     The volcanic area to the East, on the circle line is most likely caused by this same seismic wave as it follows the 50 mile circle and there is likely a crack in the Earth's crust deep enough for lava to flow there. The other lava flows within the circle are likely caused by shatter line cracks from the impact. A large scale image (4800  pixels wide) is available HERE.


Craters of the Moon 50 and 100 mile radius seismic circles.

      At 100 miles radius, linked to a larger image.

 

Craters of the Moon 170 mile radius seismic circle

     At 170 miles radius.


Craters of the Moon 400 mile radius seismic circle

       This impact created a fine line seismic circle which is visible in places the entire distance around the impact as fine line geographical alignments at 400 miles radius. Some of these are shown in the larger linked image.

 

Craters of the Moon 550 mile radius seismic circle

          At 550 miles radius.


Craters of the Moon 650 mile radius seismic circle

          At 650 miles radius.

 

Craters of the Moon 850 mile radius seismic circle

          At 850 miles radius.



Comments, information, discussion, e-mail me here:
twest@geoledgers.org

Index of Impact Sites

Introduction

© 2012, 2015 Terry Westerman