The Enigma of the Merewether Structure
July 24, 2006
Provided by: Charles O'Dale
Summary authors & editors: Charles O'Dale; Eric Kujala
The Merewether Structure (three small craters) is located north of the tree-line in Labrador, Canada, approximately 93 kilometers south-west of the Saglek Fiord. It's classified as a "Probable Meteorite Crater". The following features of this structure taken individually would not be conclusive, but together suggest that the Merewether structure may be impact related (meteorite crater remnant):
a. Extreme symmetry;
b. Exceptional depth;
c. Semblance of rim which is highest at the end of the longest diagonal;
d. A slight magnetic anomaly at the west rim;
e. The excellent agreement with Baldwin's law for explosion craters;
f. A possible slight increase in the iron-nickel content of nearby vegetation.
To this date, irrefutable evidence for a meteorite impact at the Merewether structures is still lacking. Drilling in the craters for evidence of planar deformation features has not been performed and no shattercones, impact melt or meteorite fragments have been found at this site. However, lack of these findings may be explained by the existence and movement of glaciers over the structure at the time of impact causing a smoothing of the rims and removal of any fragments of the bolide.
Related Links: