[meteorite-list] Huge South African Crater Added to UN Protected Heritage List

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Jul 14 13:36:27 2005
Message-ID: <200507141735.j6EHZdI26825_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/07/14/safrica.crater.reut/

Huge crater added to U.N. protected heritage list
Reuters
July 14, 2005

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) -- A giant crater formed 2 billion
years ago when a meteorite smashed into what is now South Africa has
been added to a U.N. list of protected heritage sites, South Africa said
Thursday.

The Vredefort Dome -- the world's oldest and biggest meteorite impact
site -- joined the global list that includes natural and manmade wonders
such as Australia's Great Barrier Reef and the Great Wall of China.

The dome was formed when a meteorite, or asteroid, some 6 miles (10
kilometers) in diameter fell from space an estimated 2 billion years ago
and struck the Earth at a speed of around 6 to 9 miles (10 to 15
kilometers) a second, melting and shattering rock below.

It carved out a crater originally up to 186 miles (300 kilometers)
across. That crater has mostly eroded, leaving a smaller structure with
a diameter of 25 miles (40 kilometers), which spans the Free State and
North West provinces in the center of South Africa.

The South African government said it would spend 18 million rand ($2.75
million) to develop tourism at the site, which would create jobs in poor
rural areas. It also wants to ramp up research into geology and early
African cultures.

"Opportunities exist to engage in geological research and explore and
understand more sensitively the rich culture of the Basotho, Batswana
and Khoi-San [peoples]," said Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan.

The World Heritage Committee opted to give the Vredefort Dome protected
status at a meeting in South Africa's east coast city of Durban this
week, making it the country's seventh World Heritage Site.

Other protected sites include Robben Island off Cape Town -- where
former President Nelson Mandela was imprisoned by the apartheid
government -- and the Sterkfontein caves near Johannesburg, where
hominid fossils dating back over 4 million years have been unearthed.

A World Heritage site designation requires governments to ensure the
site's long-term protection and prevent any development that could
damage them.
Received on Thu 14 Jul 2005 01:35:38 PM PDT