Ancient Meteorite Crater Unearthed by an Amateur Stargazer
While mapping out a camping trip, an amateur stargazer stumbled upon a distinct, large depression in Quebec's Côte-Nord region. This depression, centered around Lake Marsal, turned out to be more than just a simple indentation in the earth. Measuring about 15.5 miles in diameter and almost perfectly circular, this distinctive pit was a mystery begging to be solved.
The Journey to Discovery
The amateur explorer reached out to a French geophysicist who found the landscape around the pit strongly indicative of an impact crater. To confirm this suspicion, samples were taken from the site for initial testing. The presence of zircon, a mineral often formed during meteor impacts, was identified. However, this alone could not confirm the crater's cosmic origin. A team of scientists had to visit the pit in person.
According to a professor of planetary geology, one of the key signs of a meteorite impact is evidence of shock metamorphism. This phenomenon only occurs due to the immense pressures created by asteroid or cometary impacts or nuclear explosions. Most of these features are microscopic and can only be verified in the lab with samples. But there is one feature that can be seen with the naked eye: grooves or lines in the rock's surface known as shatter cones, which are caused by shockwaves passing through the ground.
A Challenging Expedition
In 2025, the professor and a team of geologists embarked on a challenging expedition to investigate the site in search of these features. The terrain was incredibly rough and rugged, and the team had to contend with an abundance of bugs. But their perseverance paid off. They found what they were looking for - shatter cones. They also discovered large cliffs of impact melt rock, created by the intense temperatures and pressures produced by a meteor impact. The professor explained, "When a big enough asteroid hits, you can literally melt tens of cubic kilometres of the Earth's crust."
By examining samples from the rocks, the team determined that the crater was an impressive 390 million years old.
A Rare Find
The professor who led the expedition received numerous messages from the public, with many thinking they had found a crater. However, 99 out of 100 of these turned out not to be the case. This was one of those rare examples that proved it was possible. To date, only about 200 impact craters have been discovered on Earth, 31 of which are in Canada. A crater of this size is indeed a rarity, making the discovery all the more exciting.
The last meteor crater confirmed in Canada was in 2010. After confirming the pit was the result of a meteor impact, the team named it the Uhaachatik Crater, following discussions with the Ekuanitshit Innu council, a council representing the indigenous people in the area. The team plans to share their findings at the Annual Meeting of the Meteorological Society in Germany.
An Ordinary Citizen's Extraordinary Discovery
The amateur stargazer who discovered the crater expressed his joy at learning his find was confirmed as a genuine meteor crater. "It's not every day that an ordinary citizen finds a 390-million-year-old crater," he said. He encouraged everyone not to ignore intuition or observation, even if it isn’t part of their field of expertise.
The team plans to continue their work on the collected samples to learn more about the impact site. The professor shared, "Any crater discovered offers us insight into how craters form and the effects that they can have on Earth’s geology, biology, and climate."
While mapping out a camping trip, an amateur stargazer stumbled upon a distinct, large depression in Quebec's Côte-Nord region. This depression, centered around Lake Marsal, turned out to be more than just a simple indentation in the earth. Measuring about 15.5 miles in diameter and almost perfectly circular, this distinctive pit was a mystery begging to be solved.
The Journey to Discovery
The amateur explorer reached out to a French geophysicist who found the landscape around the pit strongly indicative of an impact crater. To confirm this suspicion, samples were taken from the site for initial testing. The presence of zircon, a mineral often formed during meteor impacts, was identified. However, this alone could not confirm the crater's cosmic origin. A team of scientists had to visit the pit in person.
According to a professor of planetary geology, one of the key signs of a meteorite impact is evidence of shock metamorphism. This phenomenon only occurs due to the immense pressures created by asteroid or cometary impacts or nuclear explosions. Most of these features are microscopic and can only be verified in the lab with samples. But there is one feature that can be seen with the naked eye: grooves or lines in the rock's surface known as shatter cones, which are caused by shockwaves passing through the ground.
A Challenging Expedition
In 2025, the professor and a team of geologists embarked on a challenging expedition to investigate the site in search of these features. The terrain was incredibly rough and rugged, and the team had to contend with an abundance of bugs. But their perseverance paid off. They found what they were looking for - shatter cones. They also discovered large cliffs of impact melt rock, created by the intense temperatures and pressures produced by a meteor impact. The professor explained, "When a big enough asteroid hits, you can literally melt tens of cubic kilometres of the Earth's crust."
By examining samples from the rocks, the team determined that the crater was an impressive 390 million years old.
A Rare Find
The professor who led the expedition received numerous messages from the public, with many thinking they had found a crater. However, 99 out of 100 of these turned out not to be the case. This was one of those rare examples that proved it was possible. To date, only about 200 impact craters have been discovered on Earth, 31 of which are in Canada. A crater of this size is indeed a rarity, making the discovery all the more exciting.
The last meteor crater confirmed in Canada was in 2010. After confirming the pit was the result of a meteor impact, the team named it the Uhaachatik Crater, following discussions with the Ekuanitshit Innu council, a council representing the indigenous people in the area. The team plans to share their findings at the Annual Meeting of the Meteorological Society in Germany.
An Ordinary Citizen's Extraordinary Discovery
The amateur stargazer who discovered the crater expressed his joy at learning his find was confirmed as a genuine meteor crater. "It's not every day that an ordinary citizen finds a 390-million-year-old crater," he said. He encouraged everyone not to ignore intuition or observation, even if it isn’t part of their field of expertise.
The team plans to continue their work on the collected samples to learn more about the impact site. The professor shared, "Any crater discovered offers us insight into how craters form and the effects that they can have on Earth’s geology, biology, and climate."