Also known as Barringer Crater, after the mining engineer and businessman Daniel M Barringer, this is an impact crater formed due to the impact of a meteorite from outer space over 50,000 years ago, during the Pleistocene epoch. The meteorite which struck the earth was estimated to be about 160 feet in diameter and weighing around 300,000 tons. It was composed mainly of nickel-iron, although most of it had vaporized on impact, scattering the remains on the surrounding plateau. The crater thus formed has a diameter of 3900 feet, depth of 560 feet, and a rise of 148 feet forming the rim.
The crater is located 18 miles west of Winslow in the northern Arizona desert of the United States and is now a major tourist attraction.
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