Astrophysicists Vahagn Gurzadyan (Yerevan Institute of Physics) and Sverre Aarseth from the University of Cambridge in the UK have discovered a meteorite crater on Mount Ararat. An article on the discovery will be published in the February issue of OBSERVATORY British scientific magazine. Read more
As a meteorite collector I am always interested in hearing the latest news about meteors and meteorites. Therefore, you can imagine my pleasant surprise when I received a Google e-mail alert on November 18, reporting that two roving physicists stumbled upon a possibly undocumented meteor crater on - of all places - Mount Ararat! Read more
A team of experts believes it may have discovered a new impact crater atop Mount Ararat, the biblical mountain in historic Armenia upon which Noahs Ark is believed to have come to rest. The crater may have been produced millions of years ago. The discovery was made by two physicists that somehow got access to a part of the mountain that is closed to the general public. Both the northern and western slopes have restricted access, imposed by authorities. Mount Ararat is located in occupied Armenian territory in eastern Turkey, near the de facto borders with Armenia and Iran. The political situation in the area is unstable, and this is one of the main reasons for the restrictions, according to Turkish officials. Read more
Title: A meteorite crater on Mt. Ararat? Authors: V.G.Gurzadyan, S.Aarseth
We briefly report on a crater on the western slope of Mt.Ararat. It is located in an area closed to foreigners at an altitude around 2100m with geographic coordinates 39° 47' 30"N, 44° 14' 40"E. The diameter of the crater is around 60-70m, the depth is up to 15m. The origin of the crater, either of meteorite impact or volcanic, including the evaluation of its age, will need detailed studies.