Скачать или смотреть In 1903, mining engineer Daniel Barringer turned his attention to a vast crater

In 1903, mining engineer Daniel Barringer turned his attention to a vast crater

in northern Arizona that stretched nearly 1.2 kilometers wide and over 170 meters deep. At the time, most geologists believed the crater was volcanic in origin, formed by steam explosions or subterranean forces. Barringer rejected that idea outright. He argued that only a high speed meteorite impact could explain the crater’s shape, its raised rim, and the scattered fragments of meteoric iron found around the site.

Barringer believed the meteorite was made largely of iron and had survived impact largely intact beneath the crater floor. Based on the iron prices of the early 1900s, he estimated the buried mass could be worth the equivalent of billions today. He purchased the land and spent decades drilling shafts and tunnels into the crater, sinking much of his personal fortune into the project. Despite recovering small pieces of nickel iron meteorite around the area, every deep drilling attempt failed to locate the massive iron body he expected.

What Barringer did not yet understand was the physics of large scale impacts. The meteorite struck Earth at an estimated speed of over 40,000 kilometers per hour, releasing energy comparable to a nuclear explosion. The force was so extreme that most of the iron vaporized instantly, while the rest shattered into countless fragments scattered far beyond the crater itself. Although Barringer never found the iron deposit he sought and died without financial success, he was ultimately proven right. In the 1960s, scientific studies finally confirmed that the crater was indeed formed by a meteorite impact, securing Barringer’s place in history as a man who was wrong about the treasure, but right about the science.

#MeteorCrater #history