Wolf Creek Crater

crater, Western Australia, Australia

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Wolf Creek Crater, huge meteorite crater 65 miles (105 km) south of Halls Creek, Western Australia. The crater is on the edge of a little-explored desert and was first sighted from an airplane in 1937. It is 2,799 feet (853 m) in diameter and 151 feet (46 m) deep, with a rim standing 60–100 feet (18–30 m) above ground level. Only decayed meteoritic fragments have been found. It is considered an “explosion crater” (involving the ejection of material from the ground’s surface due to the impact event) because of its size. The crater site was made a national park (1968) with an area of 6 square miles (15 square km).

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.