Nördlinger Ries 26 km asteroid crater in Germany 15 million years ago

Nördlinger Ries, 26 km asteroid impact crater in Germany, date 15 - 14.5 million years ago. The Nördlinger Ries is an impact crater and large circular depression in western Bavaria and eastern Baden-Württemberg. It is located north of the Danube in the district of Donau-Ries. The city of Nördlingen is located within the depression, about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south-west of its centre. The depression is a meteorite impact crater formed ± million years ago in the Miocene. The crater is most commonly referred to simply as Ries crater or the Ries. The original crater rim had an estimated diameter of 24 kilometers (15 mi). The present floor of the depression is about 100 to 150 m (330 to 490 ft) below the eroded remains of the rim. It was originally assumed that the Ries was of volcanic origin. In 1960 Eugene Shoemaker and Edward C. T. Chao showed that the depression was caused by asteroid impact. The key evidence was the presence of coesite, which, in unmetamorphosed rocks,