Kara is a meteorite crater in the

Yugorsky Peninsula The Yugorsky Peninsula (russian: Югорский полуостров) is a large peninsula in Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia. It is limited by the Khaypudyr Bay in the Pechora Sea to the west and by the Baydaratsk Bay in the Kara Sea to the n ...

Nenetsia The Nenets Autonomous Okrug (russian: Не́нецкий автоно́мный о́круг; Nenets: Ненёцие автономной ӈокрук, ''Nenjocije awtonomnoj ŋokruk'') is a federal subject of Russia and an autonomous okrug of Ar ...

, Russia. Heavily eroded, it is presently in diameter, though it is thought to be originally before erosion. Its age is estimated to be 70.3 ± 2.2 million years old (

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...

Impactite Impactite is rock created or modified by one or more impacts of a meteorite. Impactites are considered metamorphic rock, because their source materials were modified by the heat and pressure of the impact. On Earth, impactites consist primarily o ...

outcrops located on the Baydarata Gulf (Baydaratskaya) shore north-east of the crater imply that the original size of the crater could have been the 4th largest on Earth. The crater is not exposed at the surface. The Kara crater lies in the southeastern end of the Yugorsky Peninsula, while the Ust-Kara site lies offshore, east of the small Kara or Karskaya Guba inlet. It was formerly believed that these two sites were two separate craters and that they formed a twin impact structure from the Late

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

. However, it seems that the Ust-Kara site does not exist as a separate site. Apparently, the

suevite Suevite is a rock consisting partly of melted material, typically forming a breccia containing glass and crystal or lithic fragments, formed during an impact event. It forms part of a group of rock types and structures that are known as im ...

outcrops of the Ust-Kara impact structure are only a part of the Kara impact structure.NASA 1988, Hodge 1994

References

External links

Earth Impact Database

The Kara Crater Size: Suevite layer outside the crater depression
Impact craters of Russia Impact craters of the Arctic Cretaceous impact craters Landforms of Nenets Autonomous Okrug Landforms of Arkhangelsk Oblast {{regional-geology-stub