Upheaval Dome

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Seen from the International Space Station

Seen from the ISS (May 2007)

Upheaval Dome as seen from the rim of the crater

Upheaval Dome is an impact crater in Canyonlands National Park, near the town Moab (Utah, United States).

It is 10 km in diameter and the crater is estimated to be less than 170 million years old (Jurassic or younger). The crater is clearly visible on the surface as bright brown and black coloured concentric rings.

Until about 1995, Upheaval Dome was believed to be a salt dome. A salt dome is a phenomenon that occurs when salt extrudes upwards through a heavier layer of rock. In the 1990s, a team of geologists and seismologists from NASA and the University of Nevada at Reno performed a detailed study that included seismic refraction and rock mapping. The results of this study showed that the meteorite theory is more likely to be correct. In 2008, it was announced that shocked quartz was discovered, further confirming the meteor impact origins of the site.