Goat Paddock
Key facts
- Country
- Australia
- Diameter
- 5 km
- Age
- less than about 50 million years
- Location
- 18.33° S, 126.67° E
A round basin about 5 km across in the rugged King Leopold Ranges of the Kimberley, Western Australia, ringed by sandstone cliffs.
Goat Paddock is an impact crater about 5 km across in the rugged Kimberley region of Western Australia. Its basin is surrounded by steep cliffs of ancient sandstone.
What it hit. The impactor struck Proterozoic sandstones and volcanic rocks, more than 1.8 billion years old.
Proof of impact. Geologists in the 1980s found breccia and quartz with shock features. The crater was later filled with sediments laid down in a lake, and these deposits survive inside it.
Age. The age is poorly known. The lake deposits filling the crater are of early Cenozoic age, and the impact is usually placed at about 50 million years ago or less.
Why it matters. Goat Paddock is unusually well preserved for its age because it is protected by hard sandstone and filled with younger sediment. The impactor is unknown.
Visiting. The crater is remote, but it can be seen from the Gibb River Road area. Much of the land is pastoral lease or Aboriginal land; ask permission before entering.
Did you know?
Goat Paddock's basin is ringed by steep sandstone cliffs.
The crater was filled by sediments laid down in a lake.
It lies in the rugged Kimberley region.