How big was the comet that hit Sudbury?
10 to 16 kilometres
A meteorite believed to be 10 to 16 kilometres in diameter hurtles from space striking the area now known as Sudbury, Ontario (700 kilometres away)! An impact crater 250 kilometres wide is created, which forms the second biggest known crater on our planet (Figure 2).
When did the asteroid hit Sudbury Ontario?
about 1.8 billion years ago
The object responsible for creating Sudbury Basin crashed into Earth about 1.8 billion years ago. That makes this crater in Canada fifty times older than Popigai—one of the world’s most well-preserved craters—which was created a mere 36 million years ago.
What caused the Sudbury Basin?
The Sudbury Basin, which is the world’s second-largest impact crater, was likely formed by an enormous comet that battered Earth more than 1.8 billion years ago, new research suggests.
What was the significance of the Sudbury Impact?
It is the third-largest known impact crater or astrobleme on Earth, as well as one of the oldest. The crater formed 1.849 billion years ago in the Paleoproterozoic era….Sudbury Basin.
| Impact crater/structure | |
|---|---|
| Province | Ontario |
| Location of the crater in Canada |
How deep is the Sudbury Basin?
15 kilometres deep
The Sudbury Basin is the second largest known impact crater on Earth — 62 kilometres long, 30 kilometres wide and 15 kilometres deep.
Why did NASA train in Sudbury?
‘While we have this appellation of Sudbury being lunar-scape-type terrain, it really was rather a different experience when they got there,” said Dence. “What we were doing in Sudbury was looking for places where the rock, the solid rock was showing, and we could look at the structures in the rock,” he said.
What is the largest asteroid to hit Earth?
As logic goes, the larger the crater, the bigger the asteroid. 1. The Vredefort crater in South Africa: Created about 2 billion years ago, this 160 Kms large crater is remnant of the largest asteroid to hit Earth.
Why is the Sudbury Basin Oval?
The elliptical appearance is due to post-impact tectonism, with shortening to the northwest. A weak fracture halo is developed to the north, exterior to the Igneous Complex. The Sudbury Igneous Complex has associated major nickel and copper ore-bodies, which are currently mined.
What is Sudbury Ontario known for?
With nine operating mines, two mills, two smelters, and a nickel refinery, Sudbury is arguably the hard rock mining capital of the world. Sudbury is home to a major geological structure in Ontario, Canada called the Sudbury Basin which is the third-largest crater on Earth, as well as one of the oldest.
Why are the rocks black in Sudbury?
Greater Sudbury’s rocks are not naturally black – rather, rock surfaces were stained black by early mining practices. Early smelter emissions contained sulphur dioxide and metal particulate.
What is the deepest mine in Sudbury Ontario?
Creighton
Creighton is an underground nickel mine located in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, and the ninth deepest mine in the world. It is also the world’s deepest nickel mine, with its mining depth extending up to 2.42km.
Why is Sudbury French?
With the arrival of the railway in Sudbury in 1883, large numbers of French Canadians from Quebec started coming to the area for work, in forestry, agriculture and mining.
Is Sudbury Ontario a rich town?
The mining industry in Sudbury, Ontario, began in 1833 after railroad workers found high concentrations of nickel-copper ore while blasting rocks on the edge of the Sudbury basin. In 2012, just over 7.5 per cent of Greater Sudbury’s 160,000 residents had a household income of more than $100,000 per year.
How deep is the Sudbury crater?
How deep are the mines in Sudbury?
Creighton is an underground nickel mine located in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, and the ninth deepest mine in the world. It is also the world’s deepest nickel mine, with its mining depth extending up to 2.42km.