About the cozy town of Illintsi, located in the Vinnytsia region, it is known even beyond the borders of Ukraine. What causes such interest in this region, you may ask? Well, it all goes back to 400 million years ago when a massive meteorite fell in this area. The collision of this cosmic body with the Earth resulted in the formation of a significant crater, with a diameter of 7 km and a depth of 600-800 meters. It's hard to imagine the destructive force of the impact when its effects are still visible today. The explosion's power can be compared to a 120-megaton bomb.
The renowned academician Anton Walter first discovered the crater in 1973. To prove his theory of the extraterrestrial origin of the crater, he drilled 25 boreholes. By studying the soil, he confirmed that the crater was formed after the fall of a cosmic body. Thanks to the academician, the early theory of volcanic origin for the crater crumbled like a house of cards.
Local prospectors found small deposits of diamonds in the crater basin. The extraction of these precious stones didn't last long as the deposits turned out to be very small. Interestingly, the world's largest agate was also found here, which is now preserved in a museum in Berlin. The dimensions of this giant stone are 14.5 by 25 by 32 centimeters.
Local residents use the stone and clay from the crater in construction. They claim that walls built with these materials have special properties that prevent heat and cold from entering the rooms. Even during the construction of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, clay and stone from these places were used.
This unique place has been visited by scientists from all over the world on numerous occasions. Vinnytsia frequently hosts international conferences where issues related to our planet, asteroids, and meteorites are actively discussed. With the development of tourism in Ukraine, the Illintsi crater has gained great popularity among tourists. People come here to admire the extraordinary beauty of the crater, collect herbs for tea, and find cosmic fragments as talismans.
Interesting facts about the Ilyinetsky crater:
1 . According to scientists, the meteorite that formed the Ilyinetsky crater had a mass of 40 million tons and a diameter of about 230-300 meters.
2. The Ilyinets crater is not the only crater of formations after the fall of the cosmic body on the territory of Ukraine; there are several of them. But Ilyinetsky crater is rightly considered the oldest crater of our country.
3. Meteorite crater of Ukraine:
The largest crater in Ukraine is Manevichesky, which is located in the Volyn region, the Crimea. Its diameter is 45 km, and the age is supposedly 65 million years.
Significantly smaller in size is the Boltyshsky crater, this is the Kirovograd region. The diameter of the crater reaches 24 km, by age 65 million years.
How not to mention the Obolonsky crater, which is located in the Poltava region.
It has a significant age of about 170 million years, a diameter of 20 km.
Ternovsky crater, which is located near Krivoy Rog, has a diameter of only 12 km, but its age is 280 million years. It is interesting that right in the crater there are population points and several active quarries.
The Belilovsky crater, reaching 6.2 km in diameter, is located in the Zhitomir region.
His age is 165 million years old.
The Rotmistrovsky crater was formed about 120 million years ago in the Cherkassy region.
The diameter of the crater is 2.7 km.
In the Kirovograd region there is a unique Zelenogai crater, which consists of two parts.
One has a diameter of 2.5 km, and the other only 800 m. Their age is about 80 million years.
4 In the Vinnytsia Planetarium, a 3-kilogram fragment of the Ilyinets meteorite is stored, it was estimated at 200 thousand dollars.
5 Local people collect different herbs for tea in the crater, they assure that the preparations have therapeutic properties.
6 According to scientists, the very core of the meteorite in the Ilinets crater lies at approximately 700-meter depth.
GPS coordinates: GPS: 49°7’0”N 29°6’0”E
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