You would never know by the look of modern-day Ames, Oklahoma, that a meteor 1,000 feet in diameter hit the area thousands of years ago. The meteor created a crater over 8 miles wide, but it is not visible today because over 9,000 ft. of sediment covers up the hole. The meteor crater, also known as an astrobleme, was discovered during oil exploration in 1991 and was found to produce a significant amount of oil and natural gas. It is now the largest oil-producing crater in the U.S. Although the crater can't be seen, a museum was built to educate people on what happened at this site.
A meteorite is a solid piece of debris that originates in outer space, then passes through the earth's atmosphere landing on the earth's surface. Only 5-10 meteors make it through earth's atmosphere a year and if they do, very few are large enough to create an impact crater, such as the one in Ames, Oklahoma.
Here is a graphic of what the crater looked like before it was covered with sediment.
The working oil-well sits over the site of the crater.
The Ames Astrobleme Museum is an open-air museum that educates the public on the cataclysmic event using videos, computer graphics, charts and more.
The museum is the only one in the world dedicated to an oil-producing crater. So the next time you're in northwestern Oklahoma, stop into Ames and check out this meteor crater site for a one-of-a-kind experience.
Ames Astobleme Museum is located at 109 E Main St
Ames, OK 73718
Have you ever visited the meteor crater site in Ames, Oklahoma? If so, what did you think about it?
Here are more interesting places to see in the Sooner State.
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