Tabun-Khara-Obo crater

Tabun-Khara-Obo is an impact crater in the Dornogovi Aimag (province) the south-east of Mongolia.[1] The crater, which is exposed at the surface, is 1.3 km (0.81 mi) in diameter. The crater's rim rises some 20 to 30 metres (66 to 98 ft) above the crater bottom,[2] but the bottom of crater is covered with up to 171 metres (561 ft) thick layer of lake deposits - a testimony that this crater in earlier times was filled with a lake.[3]

Tabun-Khara-Obo crater
Location of Tabun-Khara-Obo crater in Mongolia
Impact crater/structure
ConfidenceConfirmed
Diameter1.3 km (0.81 mi)
Rise20 to 30 m (66 to 98 ft)
Age150 ± 20 Ma
Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous
ExposedYes
DrilledYes
Location
Coordinates44°8′N 109°39′E
Country Mongolia
ProvinceDornogovi Province

It has an estimated age of 150 ± 20 million years (Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous). The site was first identified as a probable impact crater in the 1960s,[3] although confirmation of the hypothesis only occurred decades later.[2] Drilling at the site in 2008 revealed rock features consistent with high-speed impacts such as those caused by meteorites.[2]

  • Landsat image of the Tabun-Khara-Obo crater; screen capture from NASA World Wind.
  • Oblique Landsat image of Tabun-Khara-Obo crater draped over digital elevation model (x5 vertical exaggeration); screen capture from NASA World Wind.
  • View to north across the Tabun-Khara-Obo crater.
  • Satellite image of the crater and surrounding area.

References
  1. Earth Impact DB - Tabun-Khara-Obo
  2. "Tabun Khara Obo, Mongolia". NASA Earth Observatory. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
  3. "Tabun Khara Obo". Wondermondo.

Further reading
  • Amgaa, T., Koelberl, C., Anonymous, Geology and petrography of Tabun Khara Obo Crater (abstract). Meteoritics & Planetary Science, vol. 44, abstract 5019
  • Amgaa, T., Koelberl, C., Anonymous, Impact origin of Tabun Khara Obo Crater, Mongolia, confirmed by drill core studies. (Abstract). Geological Society of America, vol. 41, pp. 533. 2009
  • McHone, J. F., Dietz, R. S., Tabun Khyara Obo crater, Mongolia: Probably meteoritic. Meteoritics, V. 11, pp. 332–333. 1976
  • Shkerin, L. M., Geological structure of the crater-like feature Tabun Khara Obo (south east Mongolia) (in Russian). Meteoritika, v. 35, pp. 97-102. 1976
  • Suetenko, O. D., Shkerin, L. M., A proposed meteorite crater in southeastern Mongolia (in Russian). Astronomischeskii Vestnik, v. 4, pp. 261–263. 1970


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