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DR Congo Ring May Be Giant Impact Crater
Phrogman writes "The BBC is reporting that deforestation has 'revealed what could be a giant impact crater in Central Africa, scientists say. The 36-46km-wide feature, identified in DR Congo, may be one of the largest such structures discovered in the last decade.' If you search Google Maps for 'Omeonga Democratic Republic of the Congo,' you will be right in the middle of the suspected crater."
This isn't breaking news Indiana Jones came out two years ago, wtf.
~Mekkah
actually landed in the DR Congo some years back?
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Deforestation has revealed what could be a giant impact crater in Central Africa, scientists say.
Well then, we should keep deforesting the entire planet. Who knows what amazing discoveries await?!
Trolling is a art,
So the current destruction of that part of the earth has revealed an earlier attempt to destroy that part of the earth ... when will Mother Nature learn she can't get rid of us that easy?
Circular features are a great way to find impact sites. Heck, this area must have been hit by hundreds of meteors: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=37.701207,-100.71991&spn=0.375406,0.617294&t=h&z=11
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
. . . given Africa's leaders' penchant for pilfering natural resources (oil, diamonds, et al) for their own personal profit, I wouldn't be surprised if the crater got stolen.
Although, that would be an interesting challenge for Swiss bankers: you can deposit diamonds at a bank, but how do you fit a crater in a vault?
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
Conga rings are fun. A line might be able to wander anywhere, but if you're not careful you get trapped, like in Tron. But a conga ring, that can go on forever!
Christopher Walken.
But seriously, my GF in college worked with Chris Reeves at the Williamstown Theater Festival, and she said he was the nicest, most supportive and hard working actor she's ever met. He would thank the freaking techs! He would run lines with interns fer chrissake!
He got thrown from his horse the summer after that, we were both pretty sad for the man.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
as a smoking hole in the ground.
What is to stop slashdot from linking to the image in Google Maps in the original article?
Didn't I see this on History or the Discovery channel some years ago? Why is it being re-reported now? This ring / impact crater is not *new* news.
Good thing for deforestation, that big circular river would never have given it away.
If you search Google Maps for 'Omeonga Democratic Republic of the Congo,' you will be right in the middle of the suspected crater.
I did a google search, but I'm still here in this chair in my cubicle.
"They said I probly shouldn't fly with just one eye," "I am Bender. Please insert girder."
Nice circle. It really is an interesting aerial photography feature. How's it look on the terrain map? Maybe check that before claiming a new impact site has been found.
What's even more strange, is that Google sent their Street View truck out there. They must have gone though during the meteorite off season, 'cause I sure can't see anything interesting.
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=h&layer=c&cbll=37.577077,-101.661371&panoid=7wISFAVsiS8aFtIM6Xi6fA&cbp=12,6.42,,0,10.21&ll=37.572338,-101.766357&spn=0,359.360046&z=11
Wannabe nerd.
I would expect a meteor impact to look more like this http://goo.gl/1gcU but maybe just because it's the only one I've seen in person. According to Google Earth the whole area is pretty flat with exception of the circle of depressed area where there is now a river.
Maybe it's some kind of ancient moat around a giant collapsed culture. The Chinese built a wall - what's to say an ancient culture didn't do the opposite and dig a trench.
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It's not a real DR, but it is a real Congo. It's an actual, factual Congo.
If you look at the region with more than a passing "gee, neat" glance, you will notice that a stream winds its way around what should be the highest apparent point, the rim. Since when do rivers or creeks follow the rims of craters?
It would be far better to use Google Earth to view it, which should provide elevation data for points under the mouse, unlike Google Maps. I'd also like to see it in NASA's World Wind, which allows viewing the same region with imagery from multiple different (satellite) sources and might provide extra insight. I suspect this will prove to be some sort of plateau or mesa that just happens to have a rather familiar geometric shape, rather than an ancient impact crater.
GP presumably meant, pack the circles into hexagons instead of squares. Property lines and roads, however, tend to have been drawn in squares and rectangles in the American West, being based on Thomas Jefferson's ideal revival of the Roman Empire who fixated on right angles.
here's an interesting KMZ of impact craters
Here's another location of a crater in Mexico: do a search for "ciudad de carmen." The caves that exist in this area were formed from a meteor impact, and the caves exist along the edge of the impact. It creates a ring formation in the area, and it was also only recently discovered. Half of the crater is in the water, the other half of the crater is on land. Also, very close to this area, people theorize that the "gulf of mexico" was an impact crater that might've caused the dinosaurs to die. The yucatan peninsula sure has an odd shape, and in the water, it almost forms a circle around the gulf of mexico. The BBC series "earth: the biography" examines meteor impacts and craters that exist on the planet. It was a great natural science series, and it was very fun to watch.
I always thought this feature looked pretty crater-like, especially along the eastern edges:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=North+Bethesda,+Montgomery,+Maryland&ll=65.980034,-178.857422&spn=0.870944,2.469177&t=h&z=9
The clouds kinda obscure this one. But if you look it up in other datasets, such as MS Bing Maps, it's a bit more pronounced. And much larger than any of the other verified craters listed.
36-46km-wide ???
From what I see in google :) It's more like ... 15-20km wide ...
Kind of an important difference
Not so cool for you unless your neighbour is tens of kilometres away
Don't do that Google search!
I did it and then I was right in the middle of that crater.
I'll tell you more when I get back, the Internet link in the middle of this crater is really slow.
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That's not a gigantic ancient impact crater. That's a gigantic ancient impact crater.
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When a crater forms, there is often a spash up in the middle. Sometimes the whole thing fills with LIQUID MAGMA, just like when you drill to the center of the Earth.
Anyway, stuff that fills the crater can be harder than the rim. Years later, the rim erodes away.
It's like a fossel impression.