Avak crater

Avak crater is a buried meteorite impact structure beneath Alaska’s Arctic coastal plain, about twelve kilometers southeast of Utqiagvik. Hidden under frozen Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits, it has no clear surface expression, yet beneath the tundra it forms a subcircular crater about twelve kilometers wide and one kilometer deep, with uplifted and intensely deformed basement and sedimentary rocks. Evidence from ejecta suggests the impact occurred around ninety million years ago. First recognized through U.S. Navy seismic surveys and later drilling, Avak was confirmed as an impact structure by shatter cones and planar deformation features. It also serves as a structural trap for natural gas in nearby Barrow fields.

Utqiagvik, Alaska · United States