Daniel BarringerDied 30 Nov 1929 at age 69 (born 25 May 1860).Daniel Moreau Barringer was an American mining engineer and geologist who identified the Great Barringer Meteor Crater, Arizona, U.S.A., to be the result of a meteorite strike, and not as until then assumed, an extinct volcano. The crater is nearly round, almost a mile in diameter and about 600-ft deep. He interpreted the geological evidence at the site, but his theory (1905) was at first resisted by the scientists of the time. Continued studies all prove he was correct. There's no other signs of recent volcanic activity in the vicinity, but much meteoritic material has been found there. The crater also demonstrates that the moon's cratered surface is likely to be the result of meteoric bombardment, as would also have happened to the earth. However, the earth's atmosphere shields it from all but the largest strikes. Surface changes over time and erosion by weather have further obscured many of those.« |
