The Impact Crater Beneath Chicago; The Des Plaines Crater

Beneath a section of Chicago, there is a hidden several mile wide impact crater. This might initially seem like a crazy claim but it is true, existing underneath the city of Des Plaines. The only reason it isn't highly visible today is due to sediments emplaced during extensive glaciers during the last 2 million years. It is for this reason that I will discuss when this crater formed, what evidence we have, and what immediate effects its formation had.

Thumbnail Photo Credit: Google Earth. This image was overlaid with text, and then overlaid with GeologyHub made graphics (the image border, the orange dotted buried impact crater outline, and the GeologyHub logo).

Estimates on asteroid diameter, velocity, tnt energy equivalent, frequency of a similar magnitude asteroid/comet impact event, and effects from the impact (including earthquake magnitude generated and wind speeds generated) in this video were sourced using the calculator at https://impact.ese.ic.ac.uk/ImpactEar..., which was used with permission.


If you would like to support this channel, consider using one of the following links:
(Patreon:   / geologyhub  )
(YouTube membership:    / @geologyhub  )
(Gemstone & Mineral Etsy store: http://prospectingarizona.etsy.com)
(GeologyHub Merch Etsy store: http://geologyhub.etsy.com)

Google Earth imagery used in this video: ©Google & Data Providers

This video is protected under "fair use". If you see an image and/or video which is your own in this video, and/or think my discussion of a scientific paper (and/or discussion/mentioning of the data/information within a scientific paper) does not fall under the fair use doctrine, and wish for it to be censored or removed, contact me by email at [email protected] and I will make the necessary changes.

Various licenses used in sections of this video (not the entire video, this video as a whole does not completely fall under one of these licenses) and/or in this video's thumbnail image (and this list does not include every license used in this video and/or thumbnail image):
CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Sources/Citations:
[1] U.S. Geological Survey
[2] Dennis R. Kolata, F. Brett Denny, Joseph A. Devera, Ardith K. Hansel, Russell J. Jacobson, Zakaria Lasemi, Christopher S. McGarry, W. John Nelson, Rodney D. Norby, Colin G. Treworgy, C. Pius Weibel, "Bedrock Geology Map of Illinois", Illinois State Geological Survey, https://resources.isgs.illinois.edu/m...
[3] Ostrowski, D. and Bryson, K. (2020), Laboratory examination of the physical properties of ordinary chondrites. Meteorit Planet Sci, 55: 2007-2020. https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13562
[4] G. Collins & others, "A numerical assessment of simple airblast models of impact...", Meteoritics & Planetary Science, https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.12873 (2017), CC BY 4.0
[5] Gowan, E.J., Zhang, X., Khosravi, S. et al. A new global ice sheet reconstruction for the past 80 000 years. Nat Commun 12, 1199 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21..., CC BY 4.0.

0:00 Chicago's Impact Crater
0:22 A Buried Crater
1:01 Crater Evidence
3:04 Impact Effects