Kelly West
Key facts
- Country
- Australia
- Diameter
- 10 km
- Age
- more than about 550 million years
- Location
- 19.93° S, 133.95° E
Low hills of broken and tilted rock in the remote country east of Tennant Creek, Northern Territory.
Kelly West is an eroded impact structure in the Northern Territory of Australia, east of Tennant Creek. Its original size is uncertain but is often given as about 10 km.
What it hit. The impactor struck Proterozoic sedimentary rocks, mainly sandstones and siltstones.
Proof of impact. Geologists found shatter cones, cone-shaped fractures produced by shock, and quartz grains with shock features, which confirmed an impact.
Age. The structure was eroded and later covered by Cambrian sediments, so the impact happened more than about 550 million years ago.
Why it matters. Kelly West is one of several ancient impact structures in central and northern Australia, preserved in old, stable rocks. The impactor is unknown.
Visiting. The area is remote. Ask permission before entering pastoral or Aboriginal land.
Did you know?
Kelly West is more than about 550 million years old.
Shatter cones are found in its rocks.
It lies east of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory.