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Geological Formation

Vredefort Dome

Structural and Tectonic Formations

The Vredefort Dome, near the town of Vredefort in the Free State province of South Africa, is the deeply eroded remnant of the largest and oldest verified impact structure on Earth. It formed roughly 2.02 billion years ago when a large asteroid struck the region, producing a crater originally estimated at 250 to 300 kilometers across. Billions of years of subsequent erosion have removed the original crater bowl entirely, leaving exposed at the surface a raised, roughly circular dome of deeply deformed and structurally uplifted basement rock at the impact structure's center, including shatter cones and other shock-metamorphic features that are the diagnostic evidence of its impact origin. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

Facts
Classification
Protected Status
UNESCO World Heritage Site 1
Connections

Associated With

Dolomite, Materials
Source Wikipedia: Vredefort impact structure, Wikipedia
Orosirian, Eras
Source Wikipedia: Vredefort impact structure, Wikipedia
Paleoproterozoic, Eras
Source Wikipedia: Vredefort impact structure, Wikipedia

Caused By

Weathering, Processes

In Discipline

Geomorphology, Disciplines
In the Other Atlases

Found In

South Africa

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Wikidata: Vredefort Dome
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Vredefort impact structure, Wikipedia
  • Conservation
    In 2005, the Vredefort Dome was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites for its geologic interest.
  • Associated With: Paleoproterozoic, Article text, age Paleoproterozoic
    The impact structure was formed during the Paleoproterozoic Era, 2.023 billion (± 4 million) years ago.
  • Associated With: Orosirian, Article text, age Orosirian
    Estimates have placed the structure's age to be 2.023 billion years (± 4 million years) or 2.019/2.020 billion years (± 2-3 million years) old, which places it in the Orosirian Period of the Paleoproterozoic Era.
  • Associated With: Dolomite, Article text, rock Dolomite
    The Witwatersrand rocks are followed, in succession, by the Ventersdorp lavas at a distance of about 35 km (22 mi) from the centre, and the Transvaal Supergroup, consisting of a narrow band of the Ghaap Dolomite rocks and the Pretoria Subgroup of rocks, which together form a 25-to-30-kilometre-wide (16 to 19 mi) band beyond that.
View the Source
Wikidata: Vredefort Dome
Wikidata Q330095, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
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