Amazing how someone can discover a major geological feature when they're just looking for a place to put their tent and camp stove:
When Joël Lapointe was wandering with his Google Maps cursor to plan his camping vacation in Quebec's Côte-Nord region, he stumbled across a pit.
About 15 kilometres in diameter, he said something about its curve seemed suspicious.
He then saw a ring of small mountains about eight kilometres in diameter surrounding Marsal Lake, about 100 kilometres north of the village of Magpie, Que.
Scientists hear that kinda detail and they only think one thing:
Scientists are presently investigating the crater, with one saying that the site is "very suggestive of impact."
Encouragingly, a sample from the site contained zircon, which could be indicative of an impact event.
Scientists will conduct more research to determine if the site is indeed a meteor impact zone. One of the things they'll look for is "shatter cones," a telltale sign of impact where bedrock is subject to pressure of upwards of several million PSI:
I'm just glad I wasn't around when the crater was made!
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