USA 2012 – day 5 – return from Havasupai,…
Barringer Meteor Crater is a meteorite impact crater approximately located between Flagstaff and Winslow in the northern Arizona desert of the United States. The site had several earlier names – most notably Canyon Diablo – and thus fragments of the meteorite are officially called the Canyon Diablo Meteorite, after the adjacent Cañon Diablo.Because the United States Board on Geographic Names recognizes names of natural features derived from the nearest post office, the feature acquired the name of “Meteor Crater” from the nearby post office named Meteor.
Meteor Crater is about 1,200 m in diameter, 170 m deep, and is surrounded by a rim that rises 45 m above the surrounding plains. Interior of the crater is filled with 210–240 m layer of rubble lying above bedrock. Despite historic attempts to make the crater a public landmark, the crater remains privately owned by the Barringer family to the present day. The crater is privately owned by the Barringer family through their Barringer Crater Company, which proclaims it to be the “best preserved meteorite crater on Earth”. Since the crater is privately owned, it is not protected as a national monument, a status that would require federal ownership. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in November 1967.