TECHNOLOGY · VERIFIED DEVELOPMENT
NASA Discovers Spider Crater, a 900-Million-Year-Old Impact Structure in Western Australia
WHY IT MATTERS
The discovery of the Spider Crater provides valuable insights into the Earth's geological history and the impact of meteorites on the planet's surface.
What happened
The NASA-USGS Landsat 9 satellite captured an image of the Spider Crater, a 13-kilometer-long impact structure in Western Australia's Kimberley region. The crater has an oval shape with a central uplift and sandstone ridges that resemble spider legs.
Geologists believe the crater formed between 900 million and 600 million years ago after a meteorite impact. The crater's formation was previously unclear, with some scientists proposing a volcanic origin.
However, lab analyses of shocked quartz and zircon crystals from the sandstone have confirmed the impact origin. The crater's age is estimated based on rocks in the region.
PRIMARY SOURCES
An Impact Structure With Legs
NASA · NASA media usage guidelines; third-party material excluded
CORRECTIONS & UPDATES
- Revision 1 · Initial ingestion · Oct 13, 2026, 8:45 AM
- Revision 2 · Source update detected · Oct 13, 2026, 8:45 AM