Maple Creek
Key facts
- Country
- Canada
- Diameter
- 6 km
- Age
- less than about 75 million years
- Location
- 49.80° N, 109.10° W
Nothing obvious: the structure lies beneath the rolling prairie of south-western Saskatchewan, near the town of Maple Creek.
Maple Creek is a buried impact structure about 6 km across in south-western Saskatchewan, in Canada, near the town of the same name.
Discovery. The structure was found during oil and gas exploration. Seismic surveys showed a round structure with a central uplift in the normally flat-lying layers beneath the prairie. Rocks from wells and nearby outcrops include breccia and quartz grains with features produced by shock, which confirmed an impact. The structure was described in the 1990s.
What it hit. The impactor struck a thick sequence of Cretaceous sedimentary rocks, mainly shales and sandstones laid down in the inland sea that once divided North America. The rebound of the crater floor lifted older layers in the centre.
Age. The youngest rocks disturbed by the impact are Late Cretaceous, about 75 million years old, so the impact happened later than that. Its exact age is unknown.
Why it matters. Maple Creek and its neighbour Eagle Butte, a short distance to the west in Alberta, are two of several young impact structures on the Canadian prairies found through seismic exploration. The impactor is unknown.
Did you know?
Maple Creek was found through seismic surveys for oil and gas.
It lies close to the Eagle Butte structure, just across the border in Alberta.
The impact happened less than about 75 million years ago.