wolfe creek crater 004 - kimberley society · 2012-10-11 · through astronomical photography. in...

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KandimalalWolfe Creek Meteorite CraterEast Kimberley, Western Australia

Text and images © John Goldsmith

Cultural Advice: Indigenous and Torres Strait Islanderpeople are respectfully advised that this documents containsthe image of a person who has passed away.

Wolfe Creek Crater

Wolfe Creek Crater is one of the best preservedand most spectacular meteorite craters in theworld. It is a highly significant site for scientificresearch. The site is one of the few locations inthe world where local Indigenous knowledge andculture relates directly to the meteorite crater. Inaddition to the scientific value of the crater, thesite has also become an important touristattraction.

Location

The crater is situated at latitude -19.171822, andlongitude 127.795329, in the Kimberley region ofWestern Australia, approximately 130 km south ofHalls Creek, on the edge of the Great SandyDesert. The crater is accessed by the TanamiDesert Road, a gravel road which links HallsCreek to Alice Springs. The crater is protected bya National Park and is managed by theDepartment of Environment and Conservation.

Presentation notes,Kimberley Society, Western Australia7 September 2011

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(Above) Sunset, viewed from the crater rim.

Origin and Formation

Astronomers speculate that the original meteoritewhich formed the crater was probably an ironmeteorite weighing thousands of tonnes. Thetremendous speed of the meteor on impactcaused a massive blast, comparable to a nuclearexplosion, resulting in a circular crater almost 900metres in diameter and 150 metres deep.

The impact probably occurred more than 300 000years ago. Since then, the process of erosionhas slowly worn down the crater walls. Wind-blown sand and dust has partially filled the craterfloor. However, the crater walls remain quitesteep, and in places there are sheer cliffs,particularly on the inner side of the north easterncrater wall. The crater walls presently standabout 40 metres above the surrounding flat plain,and the almost flat crater floor is 60 metres deep;about 20 metres below the surrounding plain.

The outer portion of the crater floor is sandy,while the central portion consists of salt deposits.Sink-holes are located near the middle of thecrater, and some water is present virtually all theyear.

Although some small iron meteorite fragmentshave been discovered in the vicinity of the crater,very few particles of the original meteorite havesurvived. During the millennia which havepassed since the impact, the meteorite haslargely rusted away.

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(Above) Meteor above Wolfe Creek Crater.

(Below) Aerial view of the crater.

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Recognition of the craterby non-indigenous people

The first non-indigenous recognition of the crateroccurred as recently as 1947. Alex Bevan andKen McNamara note in their book “Australia’sMeteorite Craters” that F Reeves, NB Suave andD Hart observed the crater from the air during anaerial survey of the Canning basin, in 1947. Afield visit took place two months later.

Site visits by John Goldsmith

My interest in Wolfe Creek Crater began mainlythrough astronomical photography. In May 1998,I carried out my first visit to the crater, where Iaccomplished night landscape images of thecrater, and astronomical photography during theEta Aquariid meteor shower (originating fromHalley’s Comet). One year later, in 1999, Ireturned, together with Aboriginal Elder JackJugarie (of "The Human Race" documentaryfame). I recorded video interviews with JackJugarie, regarding his knowledge of the craterand the night sky. Subsequent visits haveextended this work further, with visits inSeptember 2000, July 2003, August 2010(collaborating with Gingin Observatory) andAugust 2011, with Jack Jugarie's Eldest son,Keith Jugarie.

Aboriginal perspectives of the crater

The Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater is known as“Kandimalal” to the Jaru Aboriginal. The crater isrecognised in stories, personal experience,knowledge, art and song by Jaru and Indigenouspeople. Elders of the Jaru Aboriginal people referto several stories relating to the crater, knownlocally as Kandimalal. One well known storyrefers to the passage of two rainbow snakeswhich formed the nearby Wolfe Creek and SturtCreek as they crossed the desert. In theDreamtime, one snake emerged from the ground,forming the crater.

In 1999, I recorded a story which relates to a“star” which fell from the sky and became buriedin the ground, causing the crater to be formed.As explained by Elder Jack Jugarie, one day, thecrescent moon and the evening star passed veryclose to each other. The evening star became sohot that it fell to the ground, causing an enormousexplosion, flash, dust cloud and noise. This

frightened the Jaru people and a long timepassed before they ventured near the crater tosee what had happened. When they ventured tocrater, it was realised that this was the site ofwhere the evening star had fallen to the Earth.The Jaru people then named the place“Kandimalal”.

(Above) Elder Jack Jugarie, 1999.(Below) Keith Jugarie, August 2011.

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Interestingly, this story closely parallels ourcurrent understanding of crater formation by largemeteorites (referred to as the “evening star” whichfell to Earth in the Jaru story). Elder Jack Jugarieindicated that this account was passed on fromhis grandfather's grandfather, which suggests thatthe story originates from before the first contactwith white people.

Elder and artist Stan Brumby has represented thestory of the star which fell to the earth innumerous ways via his art. Examples are shownbelow;

Another story refers to the underground "tunnel"linking the soakwaters in the centre of the crater,with Sturt Creek. This story has beenrepresented in several Aboriginal paintings.

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Crater photography

Photographic documentation of Wolfe CreekCrater is a very useful method, which allowsviewers to gain an appreciation of the visual formof the crater, and the particular features of thecrater shown in Aboriginal art.

A substantial photographic record of the craterhas been developed, including astronomicalphotography, timelapse, 360 degree photographyand timelapse animation, during my site visits.The digital photography documentary methodsused are described by my paper in Rock ArtResearch 2011.

Numerous night-time timelapse sequences havenow been achieved, from locations including thewestern, southern, northern and north-eastern rimof the crater. Digital photographic methods areused, with typical exposures being between 20 to30 seconds duration, and continues sequencesranging from 1 to 5 hours duration. Whenconverted into High Definition (HD) video, thesesequences reveal the apparent motion of thestars above the crater landscape.

Several photomosaic panoramic images havealso been achieved, with this method being highlysuitable for recording high resolution, extremewide angle views of the crater.

Several 360 degree images of the crater havebeen achieved to date. These unique mages are360 by 180 degree views of the crater, fromvarious locations, including from outside thecrater, the western, northern and eastern rim, andalso several images from the crater floor,including the soakwater areas near the centre ofthe crater. The 360 degree images are used tocreate a virtual tour of the crater, where viewerscan explore the crater at several locations.

In August 2011, a unique experimental animationwas achieved. A sequence of more than 470images were taken (2.5GB), during a four hourwalk around the rim of the crater, during daylight.The images have been animated into anexperimental video sequence, which shows thecentre of the crater from all angles.

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(Below) Looking toward the "South Celestial Pole", stars appear to rotate clockwise during the

photographic exposure. The crater is illuminated by strong moonlight.

(Below) Dawn light and an alignment of planets at Wolfe Creek crater.

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(Above) The western wall of the crater, viewed from the centre of the crater.

Further reading

Bevan, A., (1996) “A Blast from the Past”, Landscope Magazine. Vol. 12 No. 1 Spring 1996. Published by the Executive Director,Department of Conservation and Land Management, Western Australia.

Bevan, A. & De Laeter, J., (2002) “Meteorites, A Journey Through Space and Time”. University of New South Wales Press.

Bevan, A., McNamara, K., (2009) “Australia's Meteorite Craters”. Western Australian Museum. Perth, Western Australia.

Goldsmith, J., (2000) “Cosmic Impacts in the Kimberley” in Landscope Magazine Vol. 15 No.3 Autumn 2000. Published by theExecutive Director, Department of Conservation and Land Management, Western Australia.

Goldsmith, J., (2011) “Documenting Natural and Cultural Places with 360° Spherical Images, Panoramic and Timelapse DigitalPhotography. Rock Art Research 2011 - Volume 28, Number 1, pp. 123-127.

Text and images © John Goldsmith

John Goldsmith

www.celestialvisions.com.au

mobile 0439904536

e-mail [email protected]

John Goldsmith is conducting PhD research

at the International Centre for Radio

Astronomy Research (www.icrar.org), Curtin

University, Western Australia. His research

focuses on cultural astronomy and the

sharing and communication of Australian

Indigenous sky knowledge.

wolfe creek crater 004 - kimberley society · 2012-10-11 · through astronomical photography. in...

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