Suvasvesi is a
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...
in Eastern
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...
near the town of
Kuopio
Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...
. Suvasvesi consists of two circular open lakes, Kuukkarinselkä in north and Haapaselkä in south. The lakes are separated by a group of islands. The lake has 688 islands in total. The area of the lake is making it the 18th largest lake in Finland. Kuukkarinselkä is the third deepest lake in Finland measuring in the deepest point.
In 2001,
shatter cones were found in Kuukkarinselkä making it the 6th known
impact crater
An impact crater is a circular depression in the surface of a solid astronomical object formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact crater ...
in Finland. The crater, usually referred as Suvasvesi North crater, is located in the center of Kuukkarinselkä and measures about in diameter. Its age is estimated to be about 85
Ma but the
Earth Impact Database
The Earth Impact Database is a database of confirmed impact structures or craters on Earth. It was initiated in 1955 by the Dominion Observatory, Ottawa, under the direction of Carlyle S. Beals. Since 2001, it has been maintained as a not-for-pr ...
(EID) gives a broader span of less than 1000 Ma.
Haapaselkä resembles the northern counterpart and it was also suspected to be an impact crater. It has recently been confirmed and is usually referred as Suvasvesi South crater.
It is similar in size, and the age of the crater is estimated to be older than 700 Ma (probably about 710–720 Ma) based on
argon-argon dating of
impact melt rocks found near the southeastern shore of Lake Haapaselkä
[Buchner, E., Schmieder, M., Schwarz, W. H., Trieloff, M., Moilanen, J., Öhman, T., Stehlik, H.: A Proterozoic 40Ar/39Ar age for the Suvasvesi South structure (Finland). MetSoc 72, abstract no. 5076](_blank)
/ref> but EID gives it as around 250 Ma.[
]
See also
*Impact craters in Finland As of June 2018, 12 confirmed impact craters have been found in Finland. They are listed below, sorted by original diameter.
Note 1: The "original" crater dimensions are coarse estimates. Original depths were calculated using the given original dia ...
References
External links
*
Suvasvesi N and S impact structures
Impact craters of Finland
LSuvasvesi
Proterozoic impact craters
Triassic impact craters
Lakes of Kuopio
Lakes of Leppävirta
Impact crater lakes
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