Odessa, IAB

64,000 years ago, a massive piece of nickel-iron entered the atmosphere over what is now Northwest Texas.  It was a bad day to live in the area.  Tonnes of smaller fragments rained from the sky, and the largest single piece made a crater about half a mile across and over 100 feet deep.

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Uplifted rocks in the crater rim.
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More uplifted bedrock.

Odessa_Meteor_Crater_1 Odessa_Meteor_Crater_3 odessa-crater-signTime and the elements haven’t been kind to the crater, though.  It has since been eroded to the point that the rim is barely discernible above the surrounding plain.  The crater is no more than a slight depression, and it wasn’t even recognized until the 1920s.

6.5 kilogram individual.

DSCN6442 DSCN6443 DSCN6444 DSCN6445561 grams, Dr. Lincoln La Paz personal recovery.  La Paz “K2,” predating the K2.xxx system used at UNM.

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