A field expedition project  ·  Australia  ·  Est. 2020

ImpactCraters

Visiting and mapping every confirmed meteorite impact structure on the Australian continent

Explore
✦   THE PROJECT   ✦

The Mission

Ancient wounds in ancient land

Australia hosts some of the oldest and best-preserved meteorite impact structures on Earth. Billions of years of geological stability have left scars in the landscape that tell the story of a violent solar system - craters that range from modest depressions to vast multi-kilometre rings visible from space.

This project sets out to find, photograph, map, and document every confirmed impact structure on the continent - from the remote Kimberley to the South Australian outback, from well-known icons to barely-visited anomalies known only to geologists.

Up to 100 Potential structures
> 3.5B Years - oldest known
> 500km Deniliquin Structure - largest
11 Visited so far
✦   TARGET CRATERS   ✦

Selected Targets

From the expedition list
Dalgaranga Western Australia  ·  ~24m diameter

One of the smallest confirmed impact craters in Australia, and one of only a handful where meteoritic fragments have been recovered.

Mesosiderite fragments
Boxhole Northern Territory  ·  ~170m diameter

A recently formed iron-meteorite crater in the NT, well-preserved in arid conditions. Meteorite fragments scattered across the surrounding plain.

~5400 years old
Lake Acraman South Australia  ·  40-90km diameter

One of the largest impact structures on Earth, formed ~590 million years ago. The ejecta layer has been traced over 300km away in the Flinders Ranges.

590 million years old

Paul Dare and Brad Dare

Scientists  ·  Pilots  ·  Adventurers

Paul is a geospatial scientist with a career spent mapping the Australian continent from the air and the ground. The combination of remote sensing expertise, a pilot's licence, and a deep fascination with planetary geology makes impact structures a natural obsession.

Brad is an anthropologist with experience in Papua New Guinea and the South Pacific.

This project is equal parts science and expedition — bringing rigorous survey methods to some of the most remote and remarkable geological features in the world.

Geospatial Science Remote Sensing Field Expedition Aerial Survey Impact Geology