Quebec Amateur Astronomer's Google Maps Discovery Confirms 390-Million-Year-Old Meteor Crater
Amateur astronomer Joël Lapointe stumbled upon a strange looking pit using Google Maps in late 2023, and researchers have confirmed it as the remnant of a meteorite impact 390 million years ago.
Joël Lapointe, an amateur astronomer, discovered a circular pit located 100 kilometres north of the town of Magpie, Quebec while exploring forest paths on Google Maps. Researchers have now confirmed the discovery to be the remnant of a meteorite impact 390 million years ago. At 25 kilometres in diameter, this crater is likely among the biggest discovered in a number of years, with only about 200 known meteor craters in the world.
Discovery and Confirmation
When Lapointe didn't find the crater in existing crater databases, he reached out to experts, and it took him several tries before he found a French research centre willing to investigate his theory. The team of researchers will present their findings at the Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society in Germany. The crater has been named Uhackatik, a name established in consultation with the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit.
During an expedition to the site, the research team found cliffs of impact melt rock—created from the temperature and pressure of an impact—which can melt tens of cubic kilometres of the Earth's crust when a large asteroid strikes. The crater dates to a period before dinosaurs, mammals and humans existed, when life on Earth was still in its infancy with only primitive amphibians.
For visitors to Canada with an interest in geology and natural science, this discovery represents an extraordinary example of Canadian research excellence and citizen science. The crater site itself is in a remote region of Quebec that showcases Canada's vast and geologically significant landscapes. While not easily accessible for tourism, the discovery demonstrates how Canada's scientific institutions—including Western University's planetary geology program—contribute to global scientific understanding.
Sources
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