Back in 2006, a group of researchers led by Professor Ralph von Frese from Ohio University in Antarctica discovered a 480-kilometer crater, which, according to scientists, became the cause of Australia. A huge and very dense mass of metal was found in this crater. The width of the object is approximately 300 kilometers. The depth at which it is located is 848 meters.
The trace of the giant meteorite could not have been found before because it is located in the eastern part of the Antarctic ice sheet at a depth of almost two kilometers. The giant crater is located in the Wilkes Land region in eastern Antarctica and southern Australia. And this indicates that the object that left this crater could cause Australia to break away from the Gondwana supercontinent.
The discovery was made by analyzing gravitational deviation data recorded by NASA's GRACE satellites. They recorded a 320-kilometer gravitational anomaly.
According to experts, the age of the crater is about 250 million years. Thus, it turns out that it arose much earlier than the Chicxulub crater, with the emergence of which the death of many prehistoric animals is associated.
Estimating size celestial body, which left behind the found crater, scientists believe that it had a diameter of about 48 kilometers - four or five times the size of the asteroid that created the Chicxulub crater.
“The collision in the Wilkes Land region is much more than what wiped out the dinosaurs and probably caused a terrible catastrophe,” Dr. von Frese said at the time.
In addition to the cosmic version of the origin of the crater, which includes assumptions about a large asteroid, other, more intriguing hypotheses have appeared. There are suggestions that under the ice of Antarctica there is a giant alien spacecraft.
Wilkes Land Crater
Wilkes Land Crater
Wilkes Land Crater- a geological formation located under the ice sheet of Antarctica, in the region of Wilkes Land, having a diameter of about 500 km. It is believed to be a giant meteorite crater.
Assumptions that a giant impact crater is located in this place were expressed as early as 1962, but sufficient evidence was not found before the GRACE studies.
In 2006, a team led by Ralph von Frese and Laramie Potts measured gravitational field Earth by GRACE satellites, a mass concentrate with a diameter of about 300 km was discovered, around which, according to radar data, there is a large ring structure. This combination is typical for impact craters. Recent studies in 2009 also show that an impact crater is located in this place.
Since the structure is located under the Antarctic ice sheet, direct observations of it are not yet possible. There are alternative explanations for the mass concentrate, such as mantle plumes and other large-scale volcanic activity. If this formation is indeed an impact crater, then the meteorite that created it was about 6 times the size of the meteorite that created the Chicxulub crater, which is thought to have caused the Cretaceous–Cenozoic boundary mass extinction.
There is a hypothesis that this impact event could have caused the Permian-Triassic extinction about 250 million years ago.
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- , research news, Pam Frost Gorder, June 1, 2006.
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Excerpt characterizing Wilkes Land Crater
The door opened into the back entrance. In the corner sat an old servant of the princesses and knitted a stocking. Pierre had never been in this half, did not even imagine the existence of such chambers. Anna Mikhailovna asked the girl who was ahead of them, with a decanter on a tray, (calling her sweetheart and dove) about the health of the princesses and dragged Pierre further along the stone corridor. From the corridor, the first door to the left led to the living rooms of the princesses. The maid, with a decanter, in a hurry (as everything was done in a hurry at that moment in this house) did not close the door, and Pierre and Anna Mikhailovna, passing by, involuntarily looked into the room where, talking, the elder princess and Prince Vasily. Seeing the passersby, Prince Vasily made an impatient movement and leaned back; the princess jumped up and with a desperate gesture slammed the door with all her might, shutting it.This gesture was so unlike the princess’s usual calmness, the fear expressed on the face of Prince Vasily was so unusual for his importance that Pierre, stopping, inquiringly, through his glasses, looked at his leader.
Anna Mikhailovna did not express surprise, she only smiled slightly and sighed, as if to show that she had expected all this.
- Soyez homme, mon ami, c "est moi qui veillerai a vos interets, [Be a man, my friend, I will look after your interests.] - she said in response to his look and went even faster down the corridor.
Pierre did not understand what was the matter, and even less what it meant veiller a vos interets, [observe your interests,] but he understood that all this should be so. They went down a corridor into a dimly lit hall that adjoined the count's waiting room. It was one of those cold and luxurious rooms that Pierre knew from the front porch. But even in this room, in the middle, there was an empty bathtub and water had been spilled over the carpet. To meet them on tiptoe, paying no attention to them, a servant and a clerk with a censer. They entered the reception room, familiar to Pierre, with two Italian windows, access to the winter garden, with a large bust and a full-length portrait of Catherine. All the same people, in almost the same positions, sat whispering in the waiting room. Everyone, falling silent, looked back at Anna Mikhailovna, who had come in, with her weepy, pale face, and at the fat, big Pierre, who, with lowered head, meekly followed her.
Anna Mikhailovna's face expressed the consciousness that the decisive moment had arrived; she, with the receptions of a businesslike Petersburg lady, entered the room, not letting go of Pierre, even bolder than in the morning. She felt that since she was leading the one whom she wanted to see dying, her reception was assured. With a quick glance at everyone in the room, and noticing the count's confessor, she, not only bending over, but suddenly becoming smaller, swam up to the confessor with a shallow amble and respectfully accepted the blessing of one, then another clergyman.
A study published in Nature Climate Change presented new theory about how a mysterious "crater" formed in East Antarctica. It turns out that the weather in this region may be the cause, and not the impact of a meteorite, as previously thought.
The Crater is located on the King Baudouin Ice Shelf. Its width is 2 kilometers, depth is about 3 meters. For the first time, the public learned about it in 2015, when there were suggestions that it could result from the impact of a meteorite. Leading scientists initially suggested that a meteorite fell on the region back in 2004.
How did the crater form?
But now a team of researchers from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany think wind may be the cause. Using a combination of field work, satellite imagery, and climate models in the experiment, they suggest that strong and persistent winds can bring warm, dry air into the region, blowing snow away. 
As a result, the surface darkened, which allowed it to more easily absorb the sun's rays. This led to the formation of localized "hot spots" where the ice began to melt, forming a lake on top of the glacier, which eventually collapsed, leaving behind a circular crater. The water flowed into the ocean through three holes in the ice called moulins. 
“The buildup of pressure on the lake, which was large enough and full of water, led to the collapse of the glacier and the formation of what we initially mistook for a crater,” said study author Jan Lenarts from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. 
What does the appearance of such "craters" indicate?
The researchers said they found similar lakes below the surface. This confirms that this has happened before. The very existence of the "crater" suggests that East Antarctica is far more vulnerable to climate change than predicted, with ice shelves melting faster than previous estimates suggested. If the ice sheet breaks, most of the ice will fall into the ocean and sea levels will rise. 
Scientists' opinion
“The amount of melt water is very different from year to year, but it clearly increases in the warm season,” says Stef Lhermit from University of Technology Delft. - Previous research has shown that West Antarctica is extremely sensitive to climate change. But this study suggests that the ice sheet in East Antarctica is also very vulnerable at this time.”
Meteor Crater in Arizona, USA
It is located 65 km east of Flagstaff. The diameter of the crater is 1220m, the depth is 180m, the age is about 40,000 years. The crater is believed to have been formed by a meteorite about 50 feet in diameter and weighing about 150 tons, composed mostly of nickel and iron. Crater from 1903 is privately owned by the Barringer family. Tourists who visit it pay $15.
Wolf Creek Crater, Australia
Like Arizona Crater, Wolf Creek owes its good condition to the dry Australian climate, though it is about 300,000 years old. The crater has a cosmic origin: fragments of a meteorite and glass, which appeared as a result of the melting of sand, were found at its bottom. In addition, the center of the crater contains a white gypsum-based mineral that retains water and allows trees and other vegetation to thrive in these inhospitable conditions.
Manicouagan Crater, Quebec, Canada
It is one of the oldest craters. Located 300 km north of the city of Baye Como, in the valley of St. Lawrence. Researchers David Rowley, John Sperey and Simon Kelly put forward the theory that the craters Mantouagan, Rochechouart (France), Saint Martin (Manitoba, Canada), Obolon (Ukraine) and Red Wing (North Dokota, USA) form a chain that appeared as a result of the fall fragments of an asteroid that broke up into fragments in the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere. 214 million years ago, the craters were located close to each other, but as a result of tectonic movements (the collapse of the Pangea mainland), they "scattered" around the world.
Wetampka Crater, Alabama, USA
Almost 82 million years ago, a meteorite 350 meters in diameter fell into the cold waters of the northern seas, which were located in the area of \u200b\u200bthe current city of Montgomery, Alabama. What remains today is one of the best preserved craters formed as a result of the fall of cosmic bodies into the water . Wetampka has a diameter of 8 km.
Crater Lake, Lonar, India
One of the most famous meteorite craters in India has a diameter of no more than 1.6 km, it is partially filled with salt water. The crater was formed by a comet or meteorite impact approximately 52,000 years ago. It has well preserved its original shape and appearance from part due to the hardness of the basaltic volcanic rocks that make up most of the area.
Pingualuit Crater, Quebec, Canada
It was opened in the mid-40s, but the natives have known it for a long time, they call it Crysatal Eye. Arose from a meteorite impact 1.4 million years ago. The water level in the lake is replenished due to precipitation. The water is exceptionally clear, the salt content is very low - only 3 parts per minute, while the average salinity of the Great Lakes is 500 parts per million.
Kaali Crater, Estonia
Formed around 660 BC. as a result of the fall of 9 fragments of a meteorite on the Baltic island of Saaremaa. The largest crater, Kaali, is about 100 meters wide and is filled with underground water, the level of which varies depending on the season. It was named "Holy Lake". In the ancient epic poems of the Vikings and Scandinavian mythology there is mention of the terrible human tragedies that occurred during the formation of the Kaali craters.
Gosses Bluff Crater, Australia
We can say about this crater that it looks good for its age: about 142 million years. It is located 180 km west of Alice Springs. A meteorite that fell in this place caused great destruction and left a crater with a diameter of 22 km. However, time and the local climate have shaped its current dimensions of 5 km in diameter.
Clearwater Lakes, Quebec, Canada
These are two water-filled craters near Hudson Bay. Like other ancient craters, this case, about 300 million years old - these two have been preserved thanks to the rigid base of the Canadian Shield. The diameters of the craters are 26 and 36 km. Double craters are rare on Earth. Often they are found on other planets and moons of our solar system. As for these two, they arose as a result of the fall of two parts cosmic body disintegrated in the atmosphere of our planet.
Wilkes Land Crater, Antarctica
Usage modern technologies allows you to penetrate beyond the limits of human vision and find new ones where they cannot be seen. So a crater was discovered on south pole covered in ice for millions of years. It is assumed that the diameter of this crater is 483 km. and it arose about 250 million years ago. The climate of Antarctica at that time was more moderate. A 50-kilometer asteroid fell in these places, causing an explosion of epic proportions. Wilkes Land crater, possibly related to BEDO crater, near Australia, 200km wide.
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