Gosses Bluff Crater
Coordinates: 23 ° 49 ′ 15 ″ S , 132 ° 18 ′ 28 ″ E
The Gosses Bluff crater (English: Gosses Bluff crater or Gosse Bluff ) is an impact crater in the Northern Territory in Australia . It is located to the west of the MacDonnell Ranges and the Tnorala (Gosse Bluff) Conservation Reserve , about 159 kilometers west of Alice Springs .
The Gosses Bluff Crater was formed by the impact of a comet about 142.5 million years ago during the Lower Cretaceous . The crater, which originally had a diameter of around 22 kilometers, can hardly be seen today as a result of erosion . All that remains is the 152 meter high central mountain with a diameter of 4.83 kilometers. This central mountain is sometimes confused with the original crater as it has a larger depression in the middle.
The aboriginal people call the crater Tnorala . Only a small part of the entire interior of the crater is open to visitors, as the area is sacred to the Aborigines. The crater can be reached from Namatjira Drive . An off-road vehicle is necessary for the last ten kilometers of the way to the crater .
The Gosses Bluff Crater was named by the explorer Ernest Giles in 1872 after Henry Gosse, the brother of William Gosse who discovered the Uluṟu .
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ NT Place Names Register: Gosses Bluff. Northern Territory Government, accessed January 14, 2015 .