Vredefort Dome
E23910
Vredefort Dome is the world’s largest and oldest known impact crater, located in South Africa and formed by a massive meteorite strike over two billion years ago.
Aliases (1)
Statements (51)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
UNESCO World Heritage Site
→
geological formation → impact structure → meteorite impact crater → |
| activities |
hiking
→
river rafting on the Vaal River → rock climbing → |
| age |
approximately 2.023 billion years
→
over 2 billion years → |
| contains |
central uplift of impact structure
→
|
| continent |
Africa
→
|
| country |
South Africa
→
|
| diameter |
about 300 kilometers
→
|
| formedBy |
asteroid impact
→
meteorite impact → |
| geologicalPeriod |
Paleoproterozoic
→
|
| hasFeature |
pseudotachylite veins
→
radial and concentric fracture patterns → shatter cones → |
| impactEffects |
formation of central uplift
→
melting of crustal rocks → regional crustal deformation → |
| impactEnergy |
extremely high-energy event
→
|
| impactorEstimatedDiameter |
about 10 to 15 kilometers
→
|
| knownFor |
evidence of shock metamorphism
→
exceptional geological features → multi-ring impact basin structure → |
| largestOfType |
largest known impact structure on Earth
→
|
| locatedIn |
Free State province
→
|
| locatedNear |
Parys
→
town of Vredefort → |
| nearRiver |
Vaal River
→
|
| oldestOfType |
one of the oldest known impact structures on Earth
→
|
| partlyLocatedIn |
North West province
→
|
| partOf |
Vredefort impact structure
→
|
| recognizedAs |
type locality for large impact structures
→
|
| recognizedBy |
UNESCO
→
|
| rockTypes |
gneiss
→
granite → greenstone → quartzite → |
| scientificDiscipline |
impact cratering studies
→
planetary geology → structural geology → |
| tourism |
geotourism destination
→
|
| UNESCOWorldHeritageCriteria |
criterion (vii)
→
criterion (viii) → |
| UNESCOWorldHeritageInscriptionYear |
2005
→
|
| UNESCOWorldHeritageSiteId |
1162
→
|
| usedFor |
study of early Earth crustal evolution
→
study of large impact processes → |
Referenced by (2)
| Subject (surface form when different) | Predicate |
|---|---|
|
South Africa
→
|
hasUNESCOWorldHeritageSite |
|
Vredefort Dome
("Vredefort impact structure")
→
|
partOf |