Vredefort Dome

E23910

Vredefort Dome is the world’s largest and oldest known impact crater, located in South Africa and formed by a massive meteorite strike over two billion years ago.

All labels observed (7)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (51)

Predicate Object
instanceOf UNESCO World Heritage Site
geological formation
impact structure
meteorite impact crater
activities hiking
river rafting on the Vaal River
rock climbing
age approximately 2.023 billion years
over 2 billion years
contains central uplift of impact structure
continent Africa
country South Africa
diameter about 300 kilometers
formedBy asteroid impact
meteorite impact
geologicalPeriod Paleoproterozoic
hasFeature pseudotachylite veins
radial and concentric fracture patterns
shatter cones
impactEffects formation of central uplift
melting of crustal rocks
regional crustal deformation
impactEnergy extremely high-energy event
impactorEstimatedDiameter about 10 to 15 kilometers
knownFor evidence of shock metamorphism
exceptional geological features
multi-ring impact basin structure
largestOfType largest known impact structure on Earth
locatedIn Free State province
linked to: Free State
locatedNear Parys
town of Vredefort
nearRiver Vaal River
oldestOfType one of the oldest known impact structures on Earth
partlyLocatedIn North West province
linked to: North West Province
partOf Vredefort impact structure
linked to: Vredefort Dome
recognizedAs type locality for large impact structures
recognizedBy UNESCO
rockTypes gneiss
granite
greenstone
quartzite
scientificDiscipline impact cratering studies
planetary geology
structural geology
tourism geotourism destination
UNESCOWorldHeritageCriteria criterion (vii)
criterion (viii)
UNESCOWorldHeritageInscriptionYear 2005
UNESCOWorldHeritageSiteId 1162
usedFor study of early Earth crustal evolution
study of large impact processes

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (12)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Vredefort Dome partOf Vredefort impact structure
linked to: Vredefort Dome
Vredefort near Vredefort Dome
subject linked to: town of Vredefort
Vredefort partOf Vredefort impact structure region
subject linked to: town of Vredefort
linked to: Vredefort Dome
Vredefort hasNearbyProtectedArea Vredefort Dome World Heritage Site core area
subject linked to: town of Vredefort
linked to: Vredefort Dome
Vredefort UNESCOWorldHeritagePropertyNearby Vredefort Dome
subject linked to: town of Vredefort
Parys locatedNear Vredefort Dome
Parys locatedNear Vredefort impact structure
linked to: Vredefort Dome
Parys locatedNear Vredefort Dome UNESCO World Heritage Site
linked to: Vredefort Dome
Kaapvaal Craton contains Vredefort impact structure basement
linked to: Vredefort Dome
Ngwathe Local Municipality administers Vredefort
linked to: Vredefort Dome
Ngwathe Local Municipality Council hasJurisdictionOver Vredefort
linked to: Vredefort Dome