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Manicouagan Crater

Manicouagan Crater
One of the Expedition 38 crew members aboard the Earth-orbiting International Space Station recorded this image which features the Manicouagan Crater and reservoir located primarily in Manicouagan Regional County Municipality in the Côte-Nord region of Québec, Canada.

ISS038-E-025350 (2 Jan. 2014) — One of the Expedition 38 crew members aboard the Earth-orbiting International Space Station recorded this image which features the Manicouagan Crater and reservoir located primarily in Manicouagan Regional County Municipality in the Côte-Nord region of Québec, Canada. Scientists believe the crater was caused by the impact of a 5 kilometer (3 mile) diameter asteroid about 215.5 million years ago (Triassic Period). The crater is a multiple-ring structure about 100 kilometers (60 miles) across, with its 70 kilometer (40 mile) diameter inner ring as its most prominent feature; it contains a 70 kilometer (40 mile) diameter annular lake, the Manicouagan Reservoir, surrounding an inner island plateau, René-Levasseur Island. Because it is so unique and easily recognizable from the sky and space, the crater has been the subject of hundreds of images from astronauts for 45-plus years.