Ries crater
German meteorite scar
The Ries crater is a large impact crater in Bavaria, southern Germany, formed about 15 million years ago when an asteroid struck the Earth.
The crater measures roughly 24 kilometers in diameter and is now a shallow depression containing the town of Nördlingen, whose medieval walls are built partly from suevite, a rock created by the impact.
The Ries is one of the best-preserved impact structures on Earth and serves as an important site for studying crater formation.
- meteoriteSpace debris reaching Earth
- impactForceful contact or consequence
- BavariaSoutheastern German state
- GermanyCentral European nation
- asteroidSun-orbiting rocky mass
geology · rim · ejecta · diamonds · medieval · church · stone · circular · depression · collision · prehistoric · basin · shock · excavation · astronomy · bolide · explosion · cosmic
- meteor impactsmeteorite, bolides, debris field, ejecta, iridium layer
Ries cratervolcanic crater
Depression from eruption
Crater Lake · Yellowstone Caldera · sinkhole · caldera · shield volcano