Connolly Basin crater

Landsat image of the Connolly Basin crater (circular feature in centre); screen capture from NASA World Wind

Oblique Landsat image draped over digital elevation data (x10 vertical exaggeration), Connolly Basin crater (circular depression in centre); screen capture from NASA World Wind

Connolly Basin is a 9 km-diameter impact crater located in the Gibson Desert of central Western Australia.^[1] It lies adjacent to the Talawana Track 45 km west of the junction (Windy Corner) with the Gary Highway, but is difficult to access due to the remoteness of the area. Originally thought to be a diapir (salt dome), an impact origin was first proposed in 1985.^[2],[3]

The depression has a topographic rim 25–30 m high, while the centre displays a slight circular rise about 1 km in diameter and 5 m high exposing strongly deformed and steeply dipping bedrock interpreted as a central uplift.^[4],[5] Sedimentary rocks comprising the rim are of Early Cretaceous to Palaeogene age, while uplifted rocks in the centre are likely of Early Permian age, all part of the Canning Basin; the impact event itself is inferred to be of Paleocene (early Paleogene) age or later.^[4],[5]

References

1. ↑ "Connolly Basin". Earth Impact Database. University of New Brunswick. Retrieved 2009-08-19. 
2. ↑ Shoemaker E.M. & Shoemaker C.S. 1985. Impact structures of Western Australia. 48th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, Abstracts. Meteoritics 20, 754-756.
3. ↑ Shoemaker E.M. & Shoemaker C.S. 1986. Connolly Basin: a probable eroded impact crater in Western Australia. Lunar and Planetary Science Conference XVII, Abstracts, p. 797-798.
4. 1 2 Shoemaker E.M. & Shoemaker C.S. 1989. Geology of the Connolly Basin impact structure, Western Australia. In: Lunar and Planetary Science Conference XX, Abstracts p. 1008-1009.
5. 1 2 Shoemaker E.M., Plescia J.B., Shoemaker C.S. 2001. Connolly Basin Impact Structure, Western Australia. Lunar and Planetary Science Conference XXXII, Abstract no. 1311.PDF

Impact cratering on Earth • Impact crater
Lists	Worldwide Africa Antarctica Asia Australia Europe North America South America By country
Confirmed ≥20 km diameter	Acraman Amelia Creek Araguainha Beaverhead Boltysh Carswell Charlevoix Chesapeake Bay Chicxulub Clearwater East & West Gosses Bluff Haughton Kamensk Kara Karakul Keurusselkä Lappajärvi Logancha Manicouagan Manson Mistastin Mjølnir Montagnais Morokweng Nördlinger Ries Obolon' Popigai Presqu'île Puchezh-Katunki Rochechouart Saint Martin Shoemaker Siljan Ring Slate Islands Steen River Strangways Sudbury Tookoonooka Tunnunik Vredefort Woodleigh Yarrabubba
Topics	Alvarez hypothesis Breccia Coesite Complex crater Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary Cryptoexplosion Ejecta blanket Impact crater Impact structure Impactite Late Heavy Bombardment Lechatelierite Meteorite Moldavite Ordovician meteor event Planar deformation features Shatter cone Shock metamorphism Shocked quartz Stishovite Suevite Tektite
Research	Baldwin, Ralph Belknap Barringer, Daniel Barringer Medal Chao, Edward C T Dietz, Robert S Hartmann, William K Melosh, H Jay Ryder, Graham Schultz, Peter H Shoemaker, Eugene Earth Impact Database Impact Field Studies Group Lunar and Planetary Institute Traces of Catastrophe

Coordinates: 23°32.3′S 124°45.4′E / 23.5383°S 124.7567°E / -23.5383; 124.7567