Middlesboro crater
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Middlesboro is a meteor crater in Kentucky, United States. It is named after the city of Middlesborough (also spelled Middlesboro)[1], which today occupies much of the crater.
It is approximately 3 miles (about 6 km) in diameter and the age is estimated to be less than 300 million years (Permian). The crater is exposed to the surface.
[edit] History
The Middlesboro crater is located in the Appalachian Mountains, between the Cumberland Mountains and Pine Mountain. It forms part of the string of geological features that made the Cumberland Gap a critical westward passage during the settlement of Kentucky and the Ohio Valley in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
The town of Middlesborough, built in the crater, was established in 1886 to exploit iron and coal deposits [1], although the town's founder, Alexander A. Arthur, apparently did not know of the crater's extraterrestrial origin. While coal mining is still the town's primary economic driver, local leaders hope to turn the crater into a tourist destination.[2] In 2003, the Kentucky Society of Professional Geologists designated the area a Distinguished Geologic Site,[3] and the construction of the Cumberland Gap Tunnel makes the town a convenient source of supplies for visitors to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ The city is incorporated as "Middlesborough", but the city's post office is named "Middlesboro". Both spellings are in wide use in the city.
- ^ Associated Press (2003-09-20). Kentucky town sees a future in its crater. St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved on September 16, 2006.
- ^ Kortenkamp, Steve (Summer 2004). "Impact at Cumberland Gap: Where Natural and National History Collide". PSI Newsletter 5 (2): 1-2.
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