Meteorite crater found on mount Ararat?

In "Meteorite crater found on mount Ararat?" at 
http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/2011-February/073339.html

 

 , 
Michael posted, 

> http://www.sott.net/articles/show/223395-Meteorite-crater-found-on-mount-Ararat-

 

 
  ...quoted text deleted... 

Its coordinates are 39˚ 47' 30''N, 44˚ 14' 40''E. 

The above URL is to an article, “Meteorite crater found on 
mount Ararat?” that appeared on February 8, 2011 in the 
“Science & Technology” section of Sott.net. Articles to the 
same study also appeared back in November of 2010 on 
various web sites including: 

1. Armenian Weekly, Meteorite Crater on Mt Ararat? 
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2010/11/19/meteorite-crater-on-mount-ararat/

 

 

and 2. Unrecorded Meteorite Crater Found On Mount 
Ararat? Armenian Diaspora, November 2010. 
http://www.armeniandiaspora.com/showthread.php?250611-Unrecorded-Meteorite-Crater-Found-On-Mount-Ararat

 

 

A PDF version of the preprint is: 

Gurzadyan, V. G., and S. Aarseth, 2010, A meteorite 
crater on Mt. Ararat? Earth and Planetary Astrophysics 
(astro-ph.EP) Cornell University, arXiv:1011.3715v1 
[astro-ph.EP] 

Abstract at http://arxiv.org/abs/1011.3715

 

 
PDF file at http://arxiv.org/pdf/1011.3715v1

 

 

Looking at their picture of their hypothesized “crater,” 
it looks nothing like either an impact crater or volcanic 
crater. The depression that they illustrate lacks any 
indication of a rim that is composed of either impact 
ejecta or pyroclastic debris. Also, the bedrock that is 
exposed along the rim of the feature lacks any obvious 
signs of any deformation. Judging from the photograph, 
rock has simply collapsed into the depression instead 
of having been ejected from it. 

From all appearances, the depression reported from 
Mt Ararat looks like a rather run-of-the-mill collapsed 
roof of a lava tube. In their initial stages, such roof 
collapses can have a quite circular outline. Also, 
collapsed lava tubes would be common on a volcano 
like Mt Ararat. Such as interpretation is consistent 
with what can be seen in the photograph. 

From a previous post, some examples of collapsed lava tubes are: 

1. The Desert Caves Project 
http://www.saudicaves.com/science/index.html

 

 
http://www.saudicaves.com/science/hib.jpg

 

 

2. Collapsed Lava Tube, Craters of the Moon 
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/11599385

 

 

3. Martian caves 
http://dwarmstr.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html

 

 
http://www2.lib.uchicago.edu/~dean/blog/mars-cave.jpg

 

 
http://www2.lib.uchicago.edu/~dean/blog/mars-cave-floor.jpg

 

 

Yours, 

Paul H.