Jabal Waqf as Suwwan
Key facts
- Country
- Jordan
- Diameter
- 5.5 km
- Age
- about 37 to 56 million years
- Location
- 31.05° N, 36.80° E
A ring of low desert hills about 6 km across in the eastern desert of Jordan, with a central uplift of tilted rock clearly visible from the air.
Jabal Waqf as Suwwan is an impact structure about 5.5 km across in the desert of central Jordan, about 125 km south-east of Amman.
What can be seen. The structure has a central uplift about 1 km across, where layers of rock are steeply tilted, surrounded by a ring of low hills and a ring-shaped valley. In the dry desert, its pattern is clearly visible from the air and on satellite images.
What it hit. The impactor struck a sequence of sedimentary rocks, limestones, cherts and marls of Cretaceous and early Palaeogene age, laid down in a shallow sea.
Discovery and proof. The round structure was noticed on satellite images, and in the 2000s Jordanian and German geologists studied it in the field. They found shatter cones, cone-shaped fractures produced by shock, and quartz grains with planar deformation features, which confirmed an impact.
Age. The youngest rocks affected are about 56 million years old, and the impact is thought to have happened between about 37 and 56 million years ago.
Why it matters. The desert's sparse vegetation makes this one of the best-exposed small complex craters on Earth. The impactor is unknown.
Visiting. The site is remote desert. Travel with local guides and carry plenty of water.
Did you know?
Jabal Waqf as Suwwan was confirmed as an impact structure in the 2000s.
Its central uplift is clearly visible from the air.
It formed in rocks laid down in a shallow sea.