Chiyli
Key facts
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Diameter
- 5.5 km
- Age
- about 46 ± 7 million years
- Location
- 49.17° N, 57.85° E
A round depression about 5.5 km across in the steppe of Aktobe Province, western Kazakhstan.
Chiyli is an impact structure about 5.5 km across in the steppe of Aktobe Province, western Kazakhstan.
What it hit. The impactor struck a sequence of sedimentary rocks, including Palaeozoic and Mesozoic sandstones, clays and carbonates.
Proof of impact. Soviet geologists studied the structure in the 1980s and found breccias and minerals with shock features, which confirmed an impact.
Age. The age is usually given as about 46 million years, in the Eocene, with an uncertainty of about 7 million years.
Why it matters. Chiyli is one of several impact structures in western Kazakhstan, along with Zhamanshin, in a region of flat steppe where ancient landforms are preserved. The impactor is unknown.
Did you know?
Chiyli lies in the steppe of western Kazakhstan.
It formed in the Eocene, about 46 million years ago.
It is one of several impact structures in Kazakhstan.