Boxhole crater

Boxhole is a young impact crater located approximately 180 km (265 km by road) north-east of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, Australia.^[1] It is 170 metres in diameter and its age is estimated to be 5,400 ± 1,500 years based on the cosmogenic ¹⁴C terrestrial age of the meteorite,^[2] placing it in the Holocene. The crater is exposed to the surface.^[3]

Boxhole crater
Boxhole meteorite crater, July 2011
Impact crater/structure
Confidence	Confirmed
Diameter	170 m (560 ft)
Age	5.4 ± 1.5 ka Holocene
Exposed	Yes
Drilled	No
Location
Coordinates	22°36′45″S 135°11′43″E
Country	Australia
State	Northern Territory
Location of the crater in the Northern Territory

Description

In 1937 Joe Webb, a shearer at Boxhole sheep station, took geologist Cecil Madigan to examine the crater. Madigan discovered nickel-bearing metallic fragments and iron shale-balls similar to those found at Henbury to the south of Alice Springs.^[4] It was the second impact crater to be described in Australia, after Henbury.^[5] A later search found additional meteoritic metal including an iron mass of 181 pounds (82 kg) ,^[6][7] now in the Natural History Museum, London.

See also

• Geology portal

• List of impact craters in Australia