Boltysh crater

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The Boltysh Crater (Ukrainian Бовтиська западина ) is an impact crater in the center of Ukraine.

Description

The center of the crater lies in the valley of the Tjasmyn in Kirovohrad Oblast in Rajon Olexandriwka. The after the nearby village Bowtyschka (Ukrainian Бовтишка ) named crater is dated to 66 million years. With a diameter of 24 kilometers and a surface area of approximately 350 km ² it is the largest known impact crater in Ukraine and about as large as the impact craters of the Ries in Germany, though not as well preserved as this one.

He is the best-studied impact crater Ukraine and has become well known because of its similar age with the Chicxulub crater in Mexico at the Cretaceous - Paleogene boundary. In the early crater lake sediments of Boltysh crater ejecta of Chixulub - impact event could be detected. Therefore, it is assumed that the Boltysh crater is several thousand years older than the Chixulub - impact. The central peak at about 6 km in diameter rises 550 m above the crater floor. It is covered by 500 m thick younger sediments, and was discovered as part of an oil shale exploration in the 1960s.