Suvasvesi

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Suvasvesi
Landsat 7 image
with the impact structures in gray.
Location	Northern Savonia
Coordinates	62°42′N 28°10′ECoordinates: 62°42′N 28°10′E
Lake type	impact craters
Basin countries	Finland
Surface area	233.58 km²[1]
Max. depth	89.0 m[2]
Surface elevation	81.7 m[1]
Islands	688[3]
References	[3][2][1]

Suvasvesi is a lake in Eastern Finland near the town of Kuopio. Suvasvesi consists of two circular open lakes, Kuukkarinselkä in north and Haapaselkä in south. The lakes are separated by a group of islands. The lake has 688 islands in total. The area of the lake is 234 km² making it the 18th largest lake in Finland. Kuukkarinselkä is the third deepest lake in Finland measuring 89.0 m in the deepest point.

In 2001 shatter cones were found in Kuukkarinselkä making it the 6th known impact crater in Finland. The crater, usually referred as Suvasvesi North crater, is located in the center of Kuukkarinselkä and measures about 3.5 km in diameter. Its age, still poorly known, was measured to be 780 Ma or 240 Ma placing the impact event either in the late Neoproterozoic epoch or near the Permian-Triassic boundary.

Haapaselkä resembles the northern counterpart and it was also suspected to be an impact crater. Haapaselkä crater is usually referred as Suvasvesi South crater. It is similar in size, but the age of the crater has not been defined yet. It may be related to the Suvasvesi North making the Suvasvesi structure a very rare double impact crater.

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Finnish Environment Institute: Finnish lakes larger than 40 square kilometers
2. ^ ^{a b} Pohjois-Savon ympäristökeskus: Suvasvesi
3. ^ ^{a b} Kauko Huotari: Suomen suurimmat järvet

[edit] External links

• Earth Impact Database
• Suvasvesi N and S impact structures