Friedfort crater (Vredefort Dome) is about 120 kilometers southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is a representative landscape of the meteorite impact structure and crater. It can be traced back to 2.023 billion years ago and is the oldest crater discovered on Earth so far. Its radius is 190 kilometers and is also the largest area and the deepest impact crater. The Friedburg Crater proves the largest known energy release event in the world, with its devastating global impact, including major evolutionary changes, according to some scientists. It provides important evidence for the geologic history of the earth and is crucial to understanding the evolution of the earth. Although impact sites are important to Earth's history, geological activity on the Earth's surface has caused the disappearance of evidence for most impact sites, and the Friedburg Crater is the only example that provides a complete geological profile of a celestial body at the bottom of the crater. In 2005, the Vredefort Dome was included in the World Heritage List by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee as a natural heritage site.
Friedburg Crater (according to UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
South Africa's Friedburg Crater is located in the Northwest and Free State provinces, about 120 kilometers southwest of Johannesbur, with a geographical coordinate of 26°51′36″ south latitude and 27°15′36″ east longitude and covers an area of 30,000 hectares. At first, people have always regarded this pit as an ancient crater. Later, scientists found that the mineral composition in the stones in the pit was different from that in the volcanic rock , and confirmed that it was produced after a star body outside the earth hit the earth. According to research, the formation of the Friedburg crater may be formed by an comet with a diameter of 10 kilometers or a planet. The energy is more than 10 times that of the largest explosion equivalent in history, and the speed during the impact is between 40,000 and 250,000 kilometers per hour. Life on Earth 2.1 billion years ago was made up of microorganisms, so there was no disaster that similar species were extinct.
Friedburg Crater (according to UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
Crater is a ring-shaped trough formed by the impact of planets, satellites , asteroids or other celestial bodies through meteorites. The Friedburg Crater in South Africa is the oldest crater found on Earth and has high scientific research value. The Friedburg Crater enriches the research content of earth science and provides evidence for exploring the evolution of the earth and other planets. Visitors can truly feel the impact of the "cosmic world" on the earth by visiting the Friedburg Crater, and understand the threats of geological events, cosmic (extraterrestrial) events and intraterrestrial events to the earth. The endless mountains spread in arcs, all of which were formed by impact. After billions of years of ups and downs, the most representative geological landscape of today's meteorite impact structure has been formed. Later, it was discovered that there was a large amount of gold and a large number of diamonds buried in the Friedburg crater, which was unimaginable. Most of the local residents used to make a living by planting, grazing, etc., and they never knew that this place was a gold mine.
This article author is still the origin of gold and diamonds in South Africa. When tourists come here, they can also follow the workers to mine gold and diamond mines. This is also a unique travel experience. If you are interested in meteorite culture, you might as well come here to experience it. See what the biggest crater looks like. Feel the uniqueness of the landscape here and the richness of resources. The South African government plans to invest a lot of money in tourism development in the Friedberg area, so that more people can understand the scientific value of this region and South Africa will strictly follow the principles of World Heritage protection to better protect the region.
This article author in South Africa
craters are ring-shaped troughs formed by the impact of meteorites on the surface of planets, satellites, asteroids or other celestial bodies. The Friedburg Crater in South Africa is the oldest crater found on Earth and has high scientific research value. The Friedburg Crater enriches the research content of earth science and provides evidence for exploring the evolution of the earth and other planets.
This ruin in South Africa represents a unique geological phenomenon formed about 2.023 billion years ago and is the oldest and largest meteorite impact crater known on Earth. The Friedburg Crater is the oldest, largest and deepest meteorite impact crater in the world. It is the site of the world's largest energy release event, showing a series of complex meteorite impact structures, providing evidence for the study of the formation of craters.
Sun Keqin wrote article
reference
http://whc.unesco.org
Sun Keqin edited by, 2011, Geological Tourism. Beijing: Geological Press.
