'Beaverhead' is an
impact structure in central
Idaho in the
United States.
Estimated at 50 to 90 miles in diameter (75 to 150 km), it is one of the eight largest
impact craters on Earth, and possibly the largest in the US.
Its age is estimated to be about 850 to 900 million years (early
Neoproterozoic).
The structure is named after
the area in southwest
Montana where evidence of an impact was first discovered in 1990.
Other than the original
shatter cones found on the perimeter, there is little visible evidence of the structure.
References
★ Carr, J and Link, PK, 1999, Neoproterozoic
conglomerate and
breccia in the formation of Leaton Gulch, Grouse Peak, northern
Lost River Range, Idaho: Relation to Beaverhead Impact Structure, in Hughes, S.S., and Thackray, G.D., eds., ''Guidebook to the Geology of Eastern Idaho'': Pocatello, Idaho Museum of natural History, p. 21-29.
★
Beaverhead (only for the map)