* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Wetumpka impact crater

Blobrana · L

The city of Wetumpka is on the heels of reaching another milestone on its long list of accomplishments -- turning 175 years young.
Known as "the city of natural beauty," Wetumpka was created over 80 million years ago by a large meteor that struck the area -- it remains the lone confirmed meteorite crater in the entire state of Alabama.

Read more

Blobrana · L

Expand (130kb, 640 x 480)

Blobrana · L

The Wetumpka impact crater is the only confirmed meteorite crater in Alabama, United States. It is located east of downtown Wetumpka in Elmore County, Alabama. The crater is 7.6 km in diameter and its age is estimated to be about 83 million years (Cretaceous) old based on fossils found in the youngest disturbed deposits, which belong to the Mooreville Chalk. The crater is well preserved, including the original impact rim and breccia, but exposures are few owing to plant and soil cover, and nearly all are on private land.

Source

That 1,000 foot wide crater the mayor referred to was formed when a meteor hit there millions of years ago. Bald Knob, the big hill on the east side of town is the top of the meteor crater formed when an asteroid smashed into the ground at 40,000 miles an hour.
Read more

Latitude 32°31'15.52"N, Longitude - 86°10'23.86"W