Rotmistrovka
Key facts
- Country
- Ukraine
- Diameter
- 2.7 km
- Age
- about 120 ± 10 million years
- Location
- 49.00° N, 32.00° E
Nothing obvious: the small crater is buried beneath farmland in Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine.
Rotmistrovka is a small buried impact crater about 2.7 km across in Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine.
Discovery. The structure was found during geological exploration of the Ukrainian Shield. Drilling revealed a bowl in the crystalline basement, filled with breccia and younger sediments. Shock features in the breccia's minerals confirmed an impact.
What it hit. The impactor struck ancient crystalline rocks of the Ukrainian Shield, mainly granite. The crater was then filled with sediments, which protected it from erosion.
Age. The age is estimated at about 120 million years, in the Early Cretaceous, based on the sediments that fill the crater, with an uncertainty of about 10 million years.
Why it matters. Rotmistrovka is one of the smallest impact structures on the Ukrainian Shield. Its simple bowl shape, now buried, is typical of small craters in hard rock. The impactor is unknown.
Did you know?
Rotmistrovka is one of the smallest impact structures in Ukraine.
It is a simple bowl-shaped crater, now buried.
The crater formed in the Early Cretaceous.