Mishina Gora
Key facts
- Country
- Russia
- Diameter
- 2.5 km
- Age
- about 300 ± 50 million years
- Location
- 58.72° N, 28.05° E
A small hill and disturbed ground in Pskov Oblast, north-western Russia, near the border with Estonia, where breccia and tilted rock are exposed.
Mishina Gora is a small impact structure about 2.5 km across in Pskov Oblast, north-western Russia, close to the border with Estonia. Its name means 'Misha's hill'.
What it hit. The impactor struck a sequence of Devonian sedimentary rocks, mainly sandstones and clays, lying over older Palaeozoic sediments and crystalline basement. The rebound of the crater floor raised basement rocks in the centre, forming the hill after which the structure is named.
Proof of impact. Geologists noticed that the rocks around the hill were strongly disturbed. Drilling and study of the rocks found breccias and quartz grains with planar deformation features, the microscopic fingerprint of shock, which confirmed an impact.
Age. The age is poorly known. The youngest disturbed rocks are Devonian, and the structure is usually dated to about 300 million years ago, with an uncertainty of about 50 million years.
Why it matters. Mishina Gora shows a central uplift that brought basement rocks from depth close to the surface, even in a small crater. The impactor is unknown.
Visiting. The area is mostly forest and farmland. Ask permission before exploring.
Did you know?
The name Mishina Gora means 'Misha's hill'.
Its central hill is made of rock lifted from deep below.
It lies close to the border with Estonia.