Kamil Crater
Encyclopedia
The Kamil Crater is a 44.8 m (147 ft) wide and 15.8 m (52 ft) deep (original depth, a part covered by sand at present) meteorite
impact crater
in the East Uweinat Desert in southwestern New Valley Governorate, Egypt
, Only 0.6 km (0.372823641989884 mi) north of the border with the Sudan
and 600 m (1,969 ft) above sea level. It was located in 2008 using Google Earth
satellite imagery
by Vincenzo de Michele (former curator of the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milan
in Milan
, Italy
).
The first geophysical
study of the Kamil Crater was conducted during an Italian-Egyptian expedition undertaken in February 2010 as part of the 2009 Egyptian-Italian Science Year (EISY) and proved the meteoritic origin of the crater. It is estimated to be less than 5,000 years old and shows a well-preserved rayed structure. The crater was produced by an iron meteorite
that has been given an official name after the closest topographic feature in the area, Gebel Kamil, and which fragmented into thousands of pieces upon impact with the sandstone
bedrock. The meteor is estimated to have been 1.3 metres (4.3 ft) wide and to have weighed 5000 to 10000 kg (11,023.1 to 22,046.2 lb). Meteor fragments totalling 800 kilograms (1,764 lb) were recovered during the geophysical expedition, the bulk of which are curated at the Egyptian Geological Museum in Cairo
. Type specimens also are curated at the Museo Nazionale dell'Antartide at the University of Siena
, and at the Museo di Storia Naturale at the University of Pisa
.
Kamil Crater is located at 22° 1'5.89"N latitude and 26° 5'15.69"E longitude.
Meteorite
A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. Meteorites can be big or small. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids...
impact crater
Impact crater
In the broadest sense, the term impact crater can be applied to any depression, natural or manmade, resulting from the high velocity impact of a projectile with a larger body...
in the East Uweinat Desert in southwestern New Valley Governorate, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Only 0.6 km (0.372823641989884 mi) north of the border with the Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
and 600 m (1,969 ft) above sea level. It was located in 2008 using Google Earth
Google Earth
Google Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...
satellite imagery
Satellite imagery
Satellite imagery consists of photographs of Earth or other planets made by means of artificial satellites.- History :The first images from space were taken on sub-orbital flights. The U.S-launched V-2 flight on October 24, 1946 took one image every 1.5 seconds...
by Vincenzo de Michele (former curator of the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milan
Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milan
The Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano was founded in 1838 whenGiuseppe de Cristoforis donated his collections to the city. Its first director was Giorgio Jan .-External links:*...
in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
).
The first geophysical
Geophysics
Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and...
study of the Kamil Crater was conducted during an Italian-Egyptian expedition undertaken in February 2010 as part of the 2009 Egyptian-Italian Science Year (EISY) and proved the meteoritic origin of the crater. It is estimated to be less than 5,000 years old and shows a well-preserved rayed structure. The crater was produced by an iron meteorite
Iron meteorite
Iron meteorites are meteorites that consist overwhelmingly of nickel-iron alloys. The metal taken from these meteorites is known as meteoric iron and was one of the earliest sources of usable iron available to humans.-Occurrence:...
that has been given an official name after the closest topographic feature in the area, Gebel Kamil, and which fragmented into thousands of pieces upon impact with the sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
bedrock. The meteor is estimated to have been 1.3 metres (4.3 ft) wide and to have weighed 5000 to 10000 kg (11,023.1 to 22,046.2 lb). Meteor fragments totalling 800 kilograms (1,764 lb) were recovered during the geophysical expedition, the bulk of which are curated at the Egyptian Geological Museum in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
. Type specimens also are curated at the Museo Nazionale dell'Antartide at the University of Siena
University of Siena
The University of Siena in Siena, Tuscany is one of the oldest and first publicly funded universities in Italy. Originally called Studium Senese, the University of Siena was founded in 1240. The University has around 20,000 students, nearly half of Siena's total population of around 54,000...
, and at the Museo di Storia Naturale at the University of Pisa
University of Pisa
The University of Pisa , located in Pisa, Tuscany, is one of the oldest universities in Italy. It was formally founded on September 3, 1343 by an edict of Pope Clement VI, although there had been lectures on law in Pisa since the 11th century...
.
Kamil Crater is located at 22° 1'5.89"N latitude and 26° 5'15.69"E longitude.
External links
- Kamil Crater at Museo Nazionale Antartide
- Photo set on FlickrFlickrFlickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...
- KMZ File for Google Earth showing the crater position.