Suspected Impact Crater at the Black Rock Desert, Nevada

by Ian Kluft
e-mail: i k (dash) b r c r a t e r -at- t h u n d e r [dot] s b a y {dot} o r g
These are updates about the study of the suspected impact crater site at the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. So far we've found clues that indicate an ancient impact crater of about 40 miles in diameter may be part of the underlying geology of the Black Rock Desert. But glacial, lake and stream erosion as well as faulting have erased perhaps 80% of it. Now the Black Rock playa runs through it. Parts of the Black Rock Range, Calico Range and Kamma Mountains may be among the few remaining visible parts. So you have to look carefully - but we find more clues with every visit we make to the area.

January 3, 2009
It's a new year. Like I did last year, I'll summarize what we did and learned in the past year, and the current status of the research project. I'm calling this summary the State of the Research 2009.

November 10, 2008
The December issue of Discover Magazine mentions my amateur science research about the suspected impact crater at Black Rock. Of course, I have many friends to thank for help along the way.

September 30, 2008
Bob Verish wrote in his "Bob's Findings" column in Meteorite Times Magazine's September 2008 online issue about "Stratofox.Org's Crater Assault #3". He attended SCA3 and provided us with a lot of his useful knowledge and experience.

September 28, 2008
Photos were posted from the Stratofox 5 camping trip which was located at Upper High Dry lakebed.

September 15, 2008
For comparison, here are photos of shatter cones in New Mexico's Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Santa Fe.

September 7, 2008
Photos were posted from the Stratofox Crater Assault 3 trip to Black Rock to continue investigating the impact crater theory. See the trip report e-mail.

April 20, 2008
"Breccia/fractured rock boundary at Upper High Dry" is an article I wrote to summarize significant findings from Summer 2007,

August 20, 2007
Photos were posted from the Stratofox 4 camping trip which was located at Upper High Dry lakebed.

August 17, 2007
"Southern Rings" view of Black Rock Desert suspected impact site

July 15, 2007
For comparison, here are photos from the Sierra Madera Crater south of Fort Stockton, Texas.

June 3, 2007
Photos were posted from the Crater Assault 2 trip to Black Rock held on June 2, 2007.

March 9, 2007
WikiNews posted a news article, "Rocketeers find possible impact crater in Nevada"

February 16, 2007
"Preview: Geological Map of Black Rock based on Satellite Imagery", showing preliminary geological map from satellite imagery by Brad Douglas

February 10, 2007
"Submitted for Study: Discovery of Possible Impact Crater at Nevada's Black Rock Desert" by Ian Kluft, the original article

Photos were posted from the Crater Assault 1 trip to Black Rock held on January 28, 2007. (In case it isn't obvious the event name was intended just to be fun.)

[Nevada relief map]
The original article "Submitted for Study: Discovery of Possible Impact Crater at Nevada's Black Rock Desert" from February 2007 is still available. As the 2008 season began, this URL's format was changed in order to post updates as they become available.

If you're interested in helping with the research...

For additional information, see Wikipedia articles about: The best source for learning about recognizing impact craters is the e-book "Traces of Catastrophe" by Dr Bevan M French of the Smithsonian Institution.

An excellent slide show and informative article is "Terrestrial Impact Craters" by Christian Koeberl and Virgil L. Sharpton of the Lunar and Planetary Institute