Popigai Crater, Russia
From series “Largest Meteorite Craters on Earth”
The other largest crater is situated in Russia, Taymyr Autonomous District. Popigai crater is about 100 km in diameter. It is widely known as one of the largest diamond mines in the world. The crater has formed in the Eocene epoch, 35 million years ago. The structure itself was found recently, in 1946. The hypothesis that the crater has been formed by an impact of a large fireball was presented much later, in 1970.
During the study, deposits formed by a meteorite impact were found on the surface of the basin. The crater was named after the Popigai river flowing near. Today, it’s considered the fourth largest meteorite crater on the planet. It was ranked as one of the largest diamond deposits in the crater area in 2012. Prior to that time, deposits were classified. The research and development of mines had to be postponed for decades due to the fact that the major part of industry focused on the construction of plants for the production of synthetic diamonds.
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Popigai Crater - interactive map
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