Before a macabre and shocking horror film was created, the Wolfe Creek crater tended to attract very few visitors. That has now all changed and as a consequence the Wolfe Creek National Park, in Western Australia, now entices more tourists that any other national park in the country. It remains to be seen how many of these visitors are coming to the area to experience the magnificent and awesome sight that is the Wolfe Creek crater and how many were just interested in the apparent truth of the murders that were dramatized in the film.
The Wolfe Creek crater is located in an exceptionally remote part of the Western Australian outback. It is some 150 km south of the nearest town – Halls Creek and a full 1,854 km north east of the city of Perth. The area derived its name from a man (Robert Wolfe) who ran a store and was a prospector during a gold rush that went on to establish Halls Creek itself.
Wolfe Creek crater is the second largest meteorite impact site on Earth. On average, it has a diameter that measures around 875 meters and its current depth (from the rim to the crater floor) is measured at 60 meters. As the impact was believed to have happened just under 300,000 years ago, it is widely accepted that the original depth would have been closer to 120 meters. Over the resulting centuries, weathering and sand deposition would have increased the height of the crater floor.
It is thought that the meteorite that caused this catastrophic impact probably weighed somewhere in the region of 50,000 tons. As the meteorite was travelling at around 15 km per second, the explosion would have been tremendous, to say the least, when it eventually crashed into this part of the planet’s surface.
Meteorite debris have been recovered from many kilometres away from the crater site and there is definite evidence of the fierce heat energy that was generated at this time. Proof is still available that attests to the fact that parts of the iron meteorite literally fused themselves on to the rock around the crater wall. In short, all scientists state that we could never begin to imagine the apocalyptic-style event that would have transpired when this large meteorite struck. Moreover, we would never wish to.
The fact that this part of Australia is so remote, probably helps to explain the fact that the Wolfe Creek crater was not actually discovered until 1947. Even then it was only seen as a result of an aerial survey. Luckily though, it has now been discovered and if you ever get the chance to visit this site, make sure you grab the opportunity. Wolfe Creek crater is an amazing and rather sombre reminder of the fact that Earth can be subjected to such huge meteorite impacts.
Christopher L. Shelby, M.D.