Explorer’s Guide to Impact Craters
Haughton Crater Tour
- Getting to Haughton Crater
- Virtual Tour of Haughton Crater
- Basecamp
- Thomas Payne Canyon
- Haughton – Stop 1
- Haughton – Stop 2
- Haughton – Stop 3
- Haughton – Stop 4
- Haughton – Stop 5
- Haughton – Stop 6
- Haughton – Stop 7
- Haughton – Stop 8
- Haughton – Stop 9
- Haughton – Stop 10
- Haughton – Stop 11
- Haughton – Stop 12
- Haughton – Stop 13
- Haughton – Stop 14
- Haughton – Stop 15
Stop 4 at Haughton
Ground zero inside the Haughton structure
Photo: G. Osinski, University of Western Ontario Location: At the center of the impact structure
Scale: Height of the person is approximately 1.5-2 meters
This is the spot 39 million years ago where an asteroid or comet hit Devon Island . What do you notice about the rocks at this location? Recall how the rocks at Thomas Payne Canyon (outside of the Haughton impact structure) were all horizontal, just as they were laid down around 400-450 million years ago.
THE ANSWER: These rocks here have been uplifted approximately 1400 meters above their pre-impact position! To put this in perspective, 1400 meters is about the height of three and a half Empire State Buildings. As these rocks were uplifted, they were also tilted and rotated so that they now stand vertical. What’s more, this all happened in a few seconds time!