Geological research spanning more than a decade found Saskatchewan has one of the rarest kinds of impact craters on Earth.
Science
Gow Lake crater in Saskatchewan a rarity on Earth
At its geological core, the lake — located in remote wilderness about 400 kilometres north of the town of Nipawin — holds unique features that are unparalleled on Earth, according to research led by Dr. Gordon Osinski at Western University in London, Ont. Osinski is an international expert on impact cratering.
What makes the Gow Lake crater unique, Osinski said in an interview, is that despite its age, the crater holds remarkably well-preserved rocks and rock formations that are extraordinary.
Whatever hit the Earth at that spot, whether asteroid or comet, generated so much energy that it liquified the Earth’s crust and created rock of a different kind.
“Gow Lake has a lot of these very interesting rocks we call impactites,” Osinski said. “Because of the nature of the impact process, the melt-rock, or breccia, we find at Gow Lake make it unique in the world. You will not find another rock that looks like it anywhere else on Earth.”
Since the 1970s, it has been known that the water in Gow Lake fills an impact crater measuring roughly five kilometres across. It was assumed to be a central peak impact structure — a common form of crater, circular in shape, with terraced walls and a peak in the middle.
In 2011, a team of researchers lead by Osinski, a planetary geologist at Western, conducted a field study at Gow Lake. The unusual characteristics of the crater prompted long-term study, mostly carried out in the lab.
A dozen years later — the blink of an eye in geological time — the team’s findings were published this week in the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science. They show that the Gow Lake crater is far from typical and is actually a transitional impact structure, of which there are only two on Earth.
“Being rare on Earth is one of the significant things about this crater,” Osinski said. “I would say it is the only actual example we have of this type of crater. The only other crater of its kind, in Australia, is quite eroded and there’s very little information left.”
A transitional crater is characterized by fairly smooth walls and a floor partially or entirely covered by debris fallen from the crater walls. It is a transitional form between a simple bowl-shaped crater and a complex crater with a central uplift.
“That projectile hits the surface of the Earth, penetrates somewhat and is essentially vaporized,” he said. “It’s all about kinetic energy. That thing is coming in staggeringly fast, 15 to 20 kilometres per second, with a huge amount of energy. That energy is left over as heat that can literally melt cubic kilometres of the Earth’s crust, instantly. The surrounding rock looks like volcanic rock.”
The asteroid or comet itself would have been small compared to the size of the crater — one-10th or one-20th the size.
“We know of about 200 meteorite impact craters on Earth, but many of them are buried, submerged or eroded to such a degree that there’s hardly anything left to study,” said Osinski.
Osinski added that Saskatchewan is a hotspot for impact craters in the country.
Canada is also home to one of the only human-inhabited impact craters in the world. The city of Greater Sudbury, a hotbed of nickel mining, is situated in the Sudbury Basin, a crater 130 kilometres in diameter dating back 1.8 billion years.
Science
The body of a Ugandan Olympic athlete who was set on fire by her partner is received by family
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Kenya’s high rates of violence against women have prompted marches by ordinary citizens in towns and cities this year.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
News
The ancient jar smashed by a 4-year-old is back on display at an Israeli museum after repair
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
News
B.C. sets up a panel on bear deaths, will review conservation officer training
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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