[meteorite-list] NPA 07-16-1931: Henbury Craters Discovered

[MARK BOSTICK]

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Paper: Daily Gleaner
City: Kingston, Surrey, Jamaica
Date: Thursday, July 16, 1931
Page: 19

Discover 13 Craters Made by a meteorite.

Geologists Ask Australian Premier to Protect Site For Further Investigations

     ADELAIDE, Australia, July 10 - The Commonwealth Prime Minister has been 
asked to set aside as a reservation the site along the Fink River, in 
Central Australia, where thirteen large craters, caused thousands of years 
ago by a huge meteorite, have been discovered.  The site is in Federal 
territory and the Prime Minister is being urged to take action to prevent 
its being despoiled by visitors.
     Scientists are interested in the discovery, on which a report was 
presented to a meeting of the Royal Society last might, and a party of 
university scientists soon will make further investigations.  Three of the 
craters are larger then the biggest caused by the Siberian meteorite 
twenty-three years ago, and the largest is second in size only to the Canyon 
Diablo in Arizona.
     The craters range from 220 to ten yards wide, and more than 800 
meteorite fragments are scattered over the surrounding country.  They weigh 
from a few ounces to fifty pounds and consist mainly of metallic iron and 
nickel.
     The discovery followed reports received by Professor Grant, who with 
Sir Douglas Mawson arranged a fortnight's investigation by two geologists, 
Messrs. Alderman and Winzor.  They state that the crater, in which trees are 
growing, are greatly reduced in size and depth as a result of erosion, but 
that the largest is fifty feet deep.  The impact of the meteorite was so 
great that it generated melted rocks in the vicinity.