Chukcha
Key facts
- Country
- Russia
- Diameter
- 6 km
- Age
- less than about 70 million years
- Location
- 75.70° N, 97.80° E
A round lake basin about 6 km across on the Arctic tundra of the Taymyr Peninsula, northern Siberia.
Chukcha is an impact structure about 6 km across on the Taymyr Peninsula in the far north of Siberia, Russia. It is one of the northernmost known impact structures on Earth, well inside the Arctic Circle.
What it hit. The impactor struck a sequence of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, partly covered by younger sediments.
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 poorly known; the impact happened less than about 70 million years ago.
Why it matters. Chukcha is one of very few impact structures known in the high Arctic, a region that has been little explored and may hide many more. The impactor is unknown.
Visiting. The Taymyr Peninsula is one of the most remote places on Earth, reachable only by aircraft or ship.
Did you know?
Chukcha is one of the northernmost known impact structures.
It lies on the Taymyr Peninsula in the Russian Arctic.
The impact happened less than about 70 million years ago.