Chiemgau impact crater

Germany / Bayern / Grabenstatt /
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Chiemgau impact crater refers to Lake Tüttensee, supposedly created by a Holocene meteorite impact near Lake Chiemsee and the foothills of the Alps in southeast Germany. The findings of a team of hobby-Archaeologists, calling themselves the CIRT (Chiemgau impact reaserch team), has brought some controversy to the Geology and Archaeology community in Germany, but isn't accepted beyond the CIRT team today. The coordinates of Lake Tüttensee are 47°50′48″N 12°34′05″E / 47.846667, 12.568056 (Lake Tüttensee). According to the hypothesis, the strewn field comprises more than 80 individual craters with diameters exceeding 3 m spread over an area of roughly 60 km x 30 km. After the discovery of the Chiemgau strewn field, much work has been done by the CIRT on the Lake Tüttensee crater and its surroundings comprising geological field work, geophysical measurements and petrographic analyses. The lake is 400 m in diameter and 17 m deep encircled by an 8 m high rim of approximately 500 m in diameter. According to radiocarbon data and archeological finds, the impact is dated to 500 BC by the CIRT.
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Coordinates:   47°50'48"N   12°34'5"E

Comments

  • Very good for swimming in summer, this lake! Beware of the mosquitoes, though.
This article was last modified 16 years ago