Nördlinger Ries impact crater

E633928

geological formation impact crater

The Nördlinger Ries impact crater is a large, well-preserved meteorite impact structure in southern Germany, famous for its circular basin, suevite rocks, and the medieval town of Nördlingen built within it.

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All labels observed (5)

Label	Occurrences
Nördlinger Ries	5
Nördlinger Ries crater	4
Nördlinger Ries impact crater canonical	2
Nördlinger Ries–Steinheim double impact	1
Nördlinger Ries–Steinheim impact event	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T6957628 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Nördlinger Ries impact crater
Context triple: [Nördlingen, locatedInCrater, Nördlinger Ries impact crater]

A. Steinheim meteorite crater
The Steinheim meteorite crater is a well-preserved impact structure in southern Germany, formed by a meteorite collision during the Miocene and now a notable geological and tourist site.
B. Haughton impact crater
Haughton impact crater is a well-preserved meteorite impact structure on Canada’s Devon Island that serves as a key Mars-analog site for scientific research and astronaut training.
C. Vredefort Dome
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.
D. Aischgrund
Aischgrund is a valley region in Middle Franconia, Germany, known for its numerous carp ponds and traditional fish farming.
E. Occator Crater
Occator Crater is a prominent impact crater on the dwarf planet Ceres, best known for its bright salt deposits that suggest past subsurface brine activity.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Nördlinger Ries impact crater
Target entity description: The Nördlinger Ries impact crater is a large, well-preserved meteorite impact structure in southern Germany, famous for its circular basin, suevite rocks, and the medieval town of Nördlingen built within it.

A. Steinheim meteorite crater
The Steinheim meteorite crater is a well-preserved impact structure in southern Germany, formed by a meteorite collision during the Miocene and now a notable geological and tourist site.
B. Haughton impact crater
Haughton impact crater is a well-preserved meteorite impact structure on Canada’s Devon Island that serves as a key Mars-analog site for scientific research and astronaut training.
C. Vredefort Dome
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.
D. Aischgrund
Aischgrund is a valley region in Middle Franconia, Germany, known for its numerous carp ponds and traditional fish farming.
E. Occator Crater
Occator Crater is a prominent impact crater on the dwarf planet Ceres, best known for its bright salt deposits that suggest past subsurface brine activity.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	geological formation ⓘ impact crater ⓘ
age	approximately 14.6 million years ⓘ
contains	town of Nördlingen ⓘ
country	Germany ⓘ
diameter	approximately 24 kilometers ⓘ
discoveredAsImpactStructureBy	Eugene Shoemaker ⓘ
ejectaExtent	over 100 kilometers from the crater ⓘ
formedBy	asteroid impact ⓘ meteorite impact ⓘ
geologicalPeriod	Miocene ⓘ
hasBuildingMaterial	suevite used in Nördlingen buildings ⓘ
hasCentralFeature	slightly uplifted central area ⓘ
hasEconomicUse	quarrying of impact rocks ⓘ
hasEjecta	Ries ejecta blanket ⓘ
hasMorphology	complex impact crater ⓘ
hasMuseum	RiesKraterMuseum Nördlingen ⓘ linked to: Rieskrater-Museum
hasRim	low eroded crater rim ⓘ
hasRockType	impact breccia ⓘ shocked quartz-bearing rocks ⓘ suevite ⓘ
hasScientificSignificance	important for understanding suevite formation ⓘ key site for impact cratering studies ⓘ
identifiedAsImpactStructureIn	1960s ⓘ
impactAngle	oblique impact ⓘ
impactEnergy	equivalent to several tens of thousands of megatons of TNT ⓘ
impactTargetRocks	crystalline basement rocks ⓘ sedimentary rocks of the Swabian-Franconian Jura ⓘ
influences	local topography ⓘ settlement pattern around Nördlingen ⓘ
locatedIn	Bavaria ⓘ southern Germany ⓘ
locatedNear	Nördlingen ⓘ
notableFor	abundant suevite deposits ⓘ medieval town of Nördlingen built inside the crater ⓘ well-preserved circular basin ⓘ
partOf	Danube River region ⓘ linked to: Danube River basin Nördlinger Ries–Steinheim impact event ⓘ linked to: Nördlinger Ries impact crater
previouslyInterpretedAs	volcanic crater ⓘ
recognizedAs	type locality for suevite ⓘ
tourismType	geotourism destination ⓘ
usedFor	Apollo astronaut training ⓘ lunar geology field training ⓘ
visibleFrom	aerial imagery as circular structure ⓘ
visitedBy	Apollo 14 astronauts ⓘ linked to: Apollo 14 Apollo 17 astronauts ⓘ linked to: Apollo 17

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (13)

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

Nördlingen → locatedInCrater → Nördlinger Ries impact crater ⓘ

subject linked to: Nördlingen, Germany

Donau-Ries → namedAfter → Nördlinger Ries ⓘ