Flynn Creek Crater Earthcache EarthCache
Flynn Creek Crater Earthcache
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The Flynn Creek area is located in North Central Tennessee in the extreme northeastern part of the Nashville Basin in Jackson County.
The Flynn Creek Crater was formed sometime near the middle of the Devonian Period, about 360 million years ago. The Crater belongs to a controversial class of structures that number at least 50 throughout the world and have been variously termed Cryptovolcanic, Cryptoexplosion, or Meteroite impact craters. The possibility that these unusual structures were produced by the same general types of cratering mechanisms that have operated on other planetary surfaces has stimulated re-examination of a number of the terrestrial structures, including a detailed field and laboratory study of the Flynn Creek Crater. Field work has included detailed geological mapping, a gravity and magnetic study, and a core drilling inside the crater. These studies indicate that the Flynn Creek Crater has the same structural features that are found in the larger meteorite impact craters and in the larger man-made craters formed by surface and near-surface nuclear and chemical explosions. The results of the field and laboratory studies and the structural comparisons indicate that the formation of the Flynn Creek Crater is consistent with a comet's impact. The outline of the crater is generally circular and can be distinguished from the air.
Topographic Model
Asteroid or Comet struck this area going faster than ten miles per second forming a crater 2.5 miles across ejecting .3 cubic mile of rock. Deformed limestone bed seen in adjacent cliffs were violently uplifted to form a shattered central peak. This crater now buried beneath younger rocks, was used by NASA/USGS in training Apollo astronauts and represents an important class of craters found on other planets and satellites in our solar system
To get credit for the find and a smiley face , " These rocks are tilted due to the phenomenon that created this crater. Send me a message with an estimate of the angle that the rocks here dip into the ground (You can use the water as a level surface) and the direction in which they dip)" Also take a picture of the rock formation and post it with your log
From here you are within 75 feet of the center of impact crater.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)