Zeleny Gai
Key facts
- Country
- Ukraine
- Diameter
- 3.5 km
- Age
- about 80 ± 20 million years
- Location
- 48.07° N, 32.75° E
Nothing obvious: the small crater is buried beneath farmland in Kirovohrad Oblast, central Ukraine, not far from the Boltysh crater.
Zeleny Gai is a small impact crater about 3.5 km across in Kirovohrad Oblast, central Ukraine. Its name means 'green grove'. It lies in the same region as the much larger and younger-looking Boltysh crater, though the two are unrelated.
What it hit. The impactor struck ancient crystalline rocks of the Ukrainian Shield, mainly granites and gneisses. The crater was later filled with sediments, which preserved it.
Proof of impact. Drilling recovered breccias and impact melt rocks with shock features in their minerals, together with impact diamonds, tiny diamonds formed from graphite by the shock wave. These confirm that the structure was made by an impact.
Age. The age is estimated at about 80 million years, in the Late Cretaceous, but with an uncertainty of about 20 million years.
Why it matters. Zeleny Gai is one of several impact structures on the Ukrainian Shield in which impact diamonds have been found, showing how common this process is when graphite-bearing rocks are struck. The impactor is unknown.
Did you know?
The name Zeleny Gai means 'green grove'.
Impact diamonds have been found in its rocks.
It lies in the same region as the larger Boltysh crater.