An impact in deep time
Wolfe Creek Crater is one of the best-preserved meteorite impact craters on Earth. Located on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert, its remote setting has protected it from erosion. The structure measures between 875 and 892 meters in average diameter, with a rim rising about 35 meters above the surrounding plain. From the rim, the crater floor is approximately 60 meters below.
The impact was caused by an iron meteorite estimated to be about 15 meters in diameter with a mass of around 14,000 tonnes. It struck the Earth at a speed of roughly 15 kilometers per second. The immense energy of the collision, equivalent to a massive explosion, vaporized the meteorite and the surrounding rock. For many years, the crater's age was estimated at 300,000 years. However, new research published in 2019 used exposure dating and optically stimulated luminescence to provide a more recent age of around 120,000 years old. The crater is now estimated to have an actual depth of 178 meters, but it is filled with about 120 meters of sand and other sediments blown in from the desert over the millennia.
A story written in the stars
The local Djaru people, the Traditional Owners of the land, call the crater Kandimalal. This site and its formation are recorded in their oral traditions, or Dreaming stories. One story describes two rainbow serpents crossing the desert, forming the nearby Sturt and Wolfe Creeks. One of these serpents emerged from the ground at this spot, creating the immense circular shape of Kandimalal.
Another Djaru story provides a description that aligns closely with the astronomical event of a meteorite impact. As told by an Elder, the story explains that the evening star and a crescent moon passed very close to one another. The evening star grew intensely hot and fell to the Earth, resulting in a tremendous explosion, bright flash, and a large dust cloud. The people were frightened by the event and did not venture near the location for a long time. When they finally did, they understood it to be the place where the evening star had fallen. The passing down of such a detailed account through oral tradition is a remarkable record of a geological event that occurred in the Late Pleistocene.