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Scientists Discover Possible Impact Crater In Yemen


PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Contact: Mary A. Hardin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE               
OCTOBER 20, 1997

SCIENTISTS DISCOVER POSSIBLE IMPACT CRATER IN YEMEN

    Scientists using a variety of spaceborne remote-sensing images,
combined with limited ground research, have discovered what they think is a
possible impact crater in a dry river bed in the Yemen Arab Republic.

    "On the remote-sensing images, the proposed crater appears as a
770-meter-diameter (2,525-foot) circular feature centered on a small wadi or
dry river channel. Although sharp on the remote- sensing images, the feature
is unremarkable in the field," said Dr. Ronald Blom, a research geologist at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "This is another example of how
remote-sensing tools help us see things we wouldn't normally be able to
detect, or might overlook, on the ground."

    Blom and his colleague Dr. Robert Crippen, also of JPL, are
presenting their findings this week at the annual meeting of the Geological
Society of America, being held in Salt Lake City. The image is available at
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news .

    They used radar images from the Spaceborne Imaging Radar C/X-Band
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) that flew twice on the space shuttle
in 1994, and enhanced visible and near- infrared images from the Landsat
Thematic Mapper satellite.

    "A very brief field reconnaissance in January 1997 indicates, but
does not confirm, that the feature may well be an impact crater," Blom
explained. "The crater is in a wadi that is filled with sediment and
windblown sand. No direct evidence of an impact, such as overturned rims,
shatter cones, or meteoritic material, were observed. However, large
circular features are uncommon. Other potential explanations for this
circular feature include a sinkhole or volcanic crater. But there was no
field evidence of volcanic or sinkhole activity. Thus, neither seems likely
in this case."

    SIR-C/X-SAR, a joint mission with NASA and the German and Italian
space agencies, is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of
Technology, for NASA's Office of Mission to Planet Earth, Washington, DC.
Blom's field work was sponsored by New Wave International and the Kaplan
Fund.

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