Large meteorites have enough energy to make an impact crater when they hit the Earth, and pieces of meteorite may be scattered around and within the crater. There are about 350 proven and possible meteorite impact structures scattered throughout the world. The Canon Diablo ('Devil's Canyon') crater in Arizona, USA, has a 1.5 km diameter and is 170 m deep. The meteorite which made this crater may have been 30,000 to 100,000 tonnes, and an estimated 10 m - 25 m in diameter. Sometimes a meteorite is a large one, travelling very fast, and with a large amount of energy. Such meteorites may explode and vaporise before hitting the ground, and the shock wave will excavate a crater and partially melt surrounding rocks or give them shock deformation structures.
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