Florida has many holes in the ground beneath our feet. As every homeowner knows, there are midnight excavators which desecrate the lawn and leave it with enough pockmarks to pass for the lunar surface.
Granted, the armadillos are just looking for a snack, but a random collection of shallow holes are the result. If this visitor decides to establish a burrow, then the hole is bigger and extends ten to 15 feet.
As every FSU student and fan knows, the city of Gainesville and (more importantly) the University of Florida are in Alachua County. Alachua is the Seminole word for sinkhole.
The area has many sinkholes, most famously the Devil’s Millhopper. This hole in the ground was once an underground cavern that caved in, leaving a very large pit which locals created a legend about to scare small children and northern tourists.
In Tallahassee, home of Florida State University, UF’s primary rivals, the implication is that Gators (fans, students and alumni of the University of Florida) are really all lower life forms which crawled out of a geological depression. This delusion is rampant during college football season.
Arizona, however, has the hole of all holes in the ground. The Meteor Crater located on I-40 between Flagstaff, Arizona and the New Mexico state line, lives up to its billing.
The meteor crater just east of Flagstaff, Arizona is exactly what it is advertised as. This ancient hole-in-the-desert was formed by an exploding space rock thousands of years ago. Billboards and flyers in motels promote a visit to this unusual, if not unique, site along I-40. The many millennia which have passed since its formation do not diminish from the obvious cataclysm that occurred one fateful, explosive day in the past.
With its own interstate exit, it is about five miles south of I-40. Much like tourist traps in south Florida, there are billboards every few miles advertising the site.
Approaching the crater, it is obvious there was some sort of mega-disturbance in the terrain. The soil is pushed up, reflecting where the meteor exploded above the desert.
There is ample parking, and the reception center offers amenities for a nominal price. No doubt a practice that could have been learned from Florida’s tourist trade.
The crater itself is almost a mile across and 500 feet deep. On the day of impact, the depth of the hole was approximately 1,000 feet, but it immediately began refilling as gravity pulled back some of the debris.
The ensuing millennia have added to the backfill.
Scientific research and theories have developed a storyline leading up to the impact. The big rock (approximately 150 yards long) from space came in from the southwest and exploded high over the desert.
No evidence of human occupation was found, but one can only guess what would have been left if anyone was in the area. Chunks of the original meteor have been found, and the little ones are for sale in the gift shop.
Of course, there are tee shirts, trinkets and stuffed animals for purchase too.
Souvenir hunting on the grounds is discouraged under threat of trespassing and looting charges. The crater and the surrounding land are privately owned.
There are several walkways and observation points for taking selfies. Once a year there is a footrace around the crater, for a nominal fee.
The crater itself was used as a backdrop in the cinema epic “Starman”. Even with all the touristy distractions, the meteor-made hole is well worth the time and fee to see it.
But wait, there is more. Hurtling around in the cosmos are tens of thousands of rocks as big or bigger than the one that exploded over northeast Arizona. If luck holds there won’t be one making contact with the planet for at least the next 500 years.
After that, who cares.
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