Pristine Impact Crater Discovered in Egypt Desert

What may be the best-preserved small impact crater ever seen on Earth has been discovered in the remote Egyptian desert, scientists announced Thursday.

The crater, called Kamil, is positively pristine when compared to mostholes in the Earth gouged by impacting meteorites. Where many craters on our planet are partially eroded, this one retains much of its structure, down to even the rays of ejected material that were shot from the center when the space rock hit. [Photo of the new impact crater]

“This crater is really a kind of beauty because it’s so well-preserved that it will tell us a lot about small-scale meteorite impacts on the Earth’s crust,” said study leader Luigi Folco, meteorite curator at the Museo Nazionale dell’Antartide in Siena, Italy. “It’s so nice. It’s so neat. There is something extraordinary about it.”

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