Goat Paddock crater

{{Short description|Impact crater in Western Australia}}

{{Use Australian English|date=May 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

{{Infobox terrestrial impact site

| name = Goat Paddock crater

| other_name =

| photo = Goat Paddock Western Australia.jpg

| photo_size =

| photo_alt =

| photo_caption = Landsat image of the Goat Paddock crater (circular feature in centre); screen capture from the NASA World Wind program

| map = Western Australia

| map_alt =

| map_caption = Location of the crater in Western Australia

| map_size =

| location = Kimberley Region

| label =

| label_position =

| coordinates = {{coord|18|20|S|126|40|E|region:AU-WA_type:landmark_scale:50000|display=inline,title}}

| coordinates_ref =

| confidence = Confirmed

| diameter = {{convert|5.1|km|mi|abbr=on}}

| depth =

| rise =

| imp_size =

| age = <50 Ma
Eocene

| exposed = Yes

| drilled = No

| bolide =

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| country = Australia

| state = Western Australia

| province =

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}}

Goat Paddock is a 5 km-diameter near-circular bowl-shaped depression in a range of gently dipping Proterozoic sandstone in the Kimberley Region of northern Western Australia, 106 km west-southwest of Halls Creek. It is interpreted as an ancient meteorite impact crater, the evidence including breccia containing melted rocks, silica glass, shatter cones and shocked quartz.Harms J.E., Milton D.J., Ferguson J., Gilbert D.J., Harris W.K. & Goleby B. 1980. Goat Paddock cryptoexplosion crater, Western Australia. Nature 286, 704–706. [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v286/n5774/abs/286704a0.html Abstract]Milton D.J. & Macdonald F.A. 2005. Goat Paddock, Western Australia: an impact crater near the simple – complex transition. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 52, 691–698. [http://journalsonline.tandf.co.uk/link.asp?id=k548v736q175081g Abstract]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite Earth Impact DB | name = Goat Paddock|linkname = goat-paddock| accessdate = 2009-08-19}} Drilling shows that the crater is filled with about 200 m of ancient lake sediments containing Early Eocene pollen, this age thus giving a minimum estimate for the age of the crater itself. The crater is not perfectly circular, but slightly elongated in a north–south direction, suggesting that the projectile struck at low angle from either the north or south.

File:Goat Paddock Western Australia oblique.jpg|Oblique Landsat image draped over digital elevation data (x3 vertical exaggeration), Goat Paddock crater (circular feature in centre); screen capture from the NASA World Wind program

File:Goat Paddock Crater.jpg|The crater can be seen at the centre of this image