[meteorite-list] Wolfe Ck History

From: Kevin Forbes <vk3ukf_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Mar 10 16:44:16 2006
Message-ID: <BAY113-F6D965F7BD73326A9478FC99ED0_at_phx.gbl>

Wolfe Creek Crater history

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http://www.theage.com.au/news/Western-Australia/Halls-Creek/2005/02/17/1108500208467.html

Wolfe Creek Crater
But it is the Wolfe Creek Crater and the Bungle Bungles which hold the most
appeal. Neither is easy to get to. Wolfe

Creek Crater is located 151 km south of the town on a less than perfect dirt
road. Known to the Djaru Aborigines as

Kandimalal it was named Wolf Crater after Robert Tennant Stowe Wolfe, a
digger and storekeeper who lived in Halls

Creek in the late 1880s. The first Europeans to see the crater were F.
Reeves, N. B. Sauve and D. Hart who sighted it

while carrying out an aerial survey of the area in 1947. Later that year the
three men reached the crater by land.

There is some dispute as to the crater's status with some sources claiming
that it is the second largest meteorite

crater on earth (the other being in Arizona) while others claim it as the
fourth largest. Both these claims should be

treated with considerable scepticism. The excellent Wolf Creek Crater by Ken
McNamara (published by the Western

Australian Museum) claims that in Western Australia alone the Goat Paddock
Crater and 'The Spider' crater are

considerably larger. Perhaps the final word on this confusion belongs to
McNamara who, having weighed the evidence as

to whether Wolf Crater was really formed by a meteorite, observes: 'In a 1
to 5 classification of craters, only 12

are categorised as Class 1; included is the Wolf Creek Crater. Class 1
craters are those with which meteoric material

has been found, and are considered to have probably been formed by an
explosion caused by meteor impact with the

Earth. Of the Class 1 craters Wolf Creek is the second largest in the world,
being exceeded in size only by the

Arizona crater.'

Regardless of these counter-claims Wolf Crater, with a diameter of 853
metres and a depth of 61 metres it is still

very big. It was probably as much as 200 m deep when it was originally
formed. From the distance it appears as a low

hill but when the rim of the crater is reached it is a sight of great
symmetry and beauty. The age of the crater is

unknown but available evidence suggests that it was probably formed about 2
million years ago. Because of the extreme

dryness of the area the erosion of the crater has been very slow.
Accommodation is offered at nearby Carranya Station

Camping Grounds which are 7 km from the crater. The Station can be contacted
through the Derby Flying Doctor Base on

08 9191 1612.

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http://www.calm.wa.gov.au/national_parks/previous_parks_month/wolfe_creek.html

Although it has long been known to Aboriginal people, who called it
Kandimalal, the Wolfe Creek meteorite crater was

only discovered by Europeans in 1947, during an aerial survey. The
Aboriginal Dreaming tells of two rainbow snakes

who formed the nearby Sturt and Wolfe Creeks as they crossed the desert. The
crater is believed to be the place where

one snake emerged from the ground. This striking formation is now protected
by a reserve. Wolfe Creek was named in

1889 after Robert Wolfe, a prospector and storekeeper of Halls Creek, who
was chairman of the Kimberley Goldfields

Roads Board.

http://www.calm.wa.gov.au/national_parks/photos/wolfe_crater_big.jpg

http://www.calm.wa.gov.au/national_parks/photos/wolfe_map_big.jpg

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West Australia Broome - Wolfe Creek Crater National Park

http://www.coastshop.com.au/national_parks/wa/Wolfe%20Creek%20Crater.htm

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The Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater

Australian Aboriginal paintings of the Wolfe Creek crater
Track of the Rainbow Serpent
Exhibition of Aboriginal Paintings of the Wolfe Creek Crater

http://www.sas.upenn.edu/%7Epsanday/Aboriginal/index.html

Photo gallery

http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/exhibits/serpent/gallery.shtml

Artist's Story (excerpt):
Star bin fall down from top and made it. That's what happened, a big star
fell and made Kandimalal [the crater]. We

call that star kiki in our language.


The discoverer
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~psanday/Aboriginal/crater.html


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Received on Fri 10 Mar 2006 04:43:57 PM PST