Pristine Crater Discovered in Egypt In papers published recently in the journals Science and Geology, the Origins Network reports the discovery of the world's most pristine impact crater, providing insights into the most frequent crater forming collisions. The study, led by Dr Luigi Folco from the Museo Nazionale dell'Antartide, Università di Siena together with a research team including Origin Fellows Dr Carole Cordier and Dr Matthias Van Ginneken, conducted a field analysis of Kamil Crater in SW Egypt and recovered large numbers of rare Ni-rich iron meteorites. Kamil Crater is 45 m in diameter and 16 m deep and yet preserves bright rays of ejected materials, features that are commonly associated with craters on atmosphereless bodies such as the moon, but are rapidly eroded on the Earth. The research study suggests that the impactor was approximately 40, 000 kg in mass. Small impactors, such as the Kamil meteorite, collide with Earth relatively frequently and understanding the mechanisms by which they either form impact craters or disrupt in the atmosphere is important in evaluating the hazard they may pose. The preservation of rays around Kamil crater, however, also means this structure gives us a unique opportunity to investigate the results of impact crater that is not usual possible due to later removal by erosion. Science paper Geology paper