Yallalie
Key facts
- Country
- Australia
- Diameter
- 12 km
- Age
- about 80 to 90 million years
- Location
- 30.45° S, 115.78° E
Nothing obvious: the structure is buried beneath farmland near Dandaragan, about 200 km north of Perth, Western Australia.
Yallalie is a buried impact structure about 12 km across near the town of Dandaragan, about 200 km north of Perth, Western Australia.
Discovery. The structure was found in the 1990s from seismic surveys made during exploration for oil and gas, which revealed a round structure with a central uplift beneath the farmland. Later studies found breccia with shocked quartz grains, confirming an impact.
What it hit. The impactor struck a sequence of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks of the Perth Basin. At the time, the area was a shallow sea.
Age. The youngest rocks affected and the oldest that cover the structure show that the impact happened in the Late Cretaceous, about 80 to 90 million years ago.
Why it matters. Yallalie is one of the closest known impact structures to Perth, and its buried form is typical of craters found by the oil industry. The impactor is unknown.
Visiting. The structure is on private farmland. Ask permission before entering.
Did you know?
Yallalie was found in seismic surveys for oil and gas.
It formed in a shallow sea in the Late Cretaceous.
It lies about 200 km north of Perth.