It has not been recognised officially yet, but there are what might be fossil remains of an enormous impact crater centred on a point a few miles West of Galway city.
Here is a picture of possible crater remains, chosen to include some more distant artefacts.
This image is presented as public domain by the source site
Wrt: (The impact responsible for the annular Manicouagan Reservoir occurred about 12 million years before the extinction event - the Rochechouart crater is now thought to have been caused by part of the same fragmented impactor.) Consider this:
Here is a picture of possible crater remains, chosen to include some more distant artefacts.
This image is presented as public domain by the source site
Wrt: (The impact responsible for the annular Manicouagan Reservoir occurred about 12 million years before the extinction event - the Rochechouart crater is now thought to have been caused by part of the same fragmented impactor.) Consider this:
Can this be the impact crater which tore open the Atlantic ocean?
Using Google maps, search for Lough Coolin in Galway. Select satellite view. Now zoom out until the whole of Lough Mask comes into view. See how it, and a lake of similar size to its south form an angle of about 90 degrees about at 1 o’clock, and 4 o’clock. Now zooming out further, At about a radius of about 100km, you will find a chain of lakes extending from Sligo to the Shannon estuary. Another 40 km out, there is another chain of lakes, not quite so clear, from Donegal to Mulingar and with some imagination, to Killarney, and on to Dingle bay.
Zoom out further, and taking the direction of the lake near the centre, pointing to about 1 o’clock, and see how it aligns with the Scottish Great Glen, and Loch Ness, and further out to the Swedish coast-line. Likewise, follow the lake at 4 o’clock, and see how it aligns with the Biscay coast of France.
Remember how we started from a little lake on top of a small mountain, just like the lake in the very centre of René-Levasseur Island.
Now zoom right out, to take in most of Western Europe, See how the ray through the French Biscay coast lines up with the oceanic depths to the west of Italy.
Are we not looking at about a 120 degree sector of a huge crater, from about 1 o'clock to 5 o'clock? We are talking a main crater about 200 miles across, with ripples out to 2000 miles diameter, and radial rays out to 5,000 miles. Apart from the ray forming the great glen, you might see the coast of Portugal, The Biscay coast of France, and the Swedish coast as fossils of these rays.
But, I hear you say: What has Galway got to do with Quebec? Wind the clock back 200Ma, and the Atlantic is nothing more than a fault line. See also how Greenland snuggles up to the Labrador coast. See how just to the south of Greenland, where it snuggles against Labrador, near to Newfoundland, an inlet remains, into which Ireland fits like into a glove.
The little island in the northern passage of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, now, more or less, marks where what has become Lough Coolin would then lie. That is just 850 km from the lake on René Levasseur island or about 550 miles. Practically next door!
This is huge, but not Earth-shattering. There are similar sized craters on the Moon, and the Moon is far more fragile than the Earth.
Incidentally, the geology in the Westport area is highly complex, typical of an impact zone.
The picture here was inspired by a similar map found on the site of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Here, showing the Odale Crater Chain, embodying the Lough Coolin Crater, showing how the proposed crater is at the centre of several radiating faults.
This table was also copied from the said site, and likewise modified to include the proposed crater.
| CRATER | DIA (km) | AGE (Ma) |
|---|---|---|
| Red Wing, Minnesota | 9.1 | 200 ± 25 |
| Saint Martin, Manitoba | ~40 | 219 ± 40 |
| Lough Coolin, Ireland | ~200* | ~200 |
| Manicouagan, Quebec | 100 | 214 ± 1 |
| Rochechouart, France | 23 | 186 ± 5 |
| Obolon, Ukraine | 20 | 169 ± 7 |
| Paasselka, Finland | 10 | 228.7 ± 3.4 |
* Diameter of inner circle. Outer circle extends beyond 350 km.
A close examination of the area of the proposed crater remnant, applied to the situation prior to the existence of the Atlantic Ocean, Using Google Earth as source images, gives this 'mosaic'. The source pictures are Google copyright, and Google do not give specific permissions, but do imply, that provided that all decals and markings are left in place, and no attempt is made to disguise the source, this is considered fair use.
I think here we have before us, most of the remnants of the proposed impact crater. The position of Greenland is not precise, but is the best fit I can get. Features on the Greenland coast cannot be reliably use to define the crater remnants, though if it were about 30 miles further south, there is a tempting inlet alignment with the outer circle.If you examine the 'doughnut', inner circle, you can see clearly how the lakes in the Shannon valley closely follow this circle. Continuing beyond Tralee, across the little sea, you come to the Labrador coast, and see how the circle lines up for some 30 miles with a fjord inlet in that coast. The outer circle of the doughnut demarks a chain of lakes which is not so clear, or precise. However, following clockwise, noting that Newfoundland has been replaced some 60 miles NE from its present position. See the excellent fit. and see how the outer circle picks up the deep bay inlet, which mirrors Dingle Bay. Likewise, follow the outer circle anticlockwise, and see how it nicely picks up Sandwich Bay.
