The immense energy of the impact was instantly converted into heat which melted, pulverised, and atomised the meteorite itself and the ground underneath, deforming rocks and shooting debris everywhere.

The crater that was left was probably about 120 metres deep. Over the next 300,000 years the wind gradually filled it with sand, and today the Wolfe Creek Crater floor is 50 to 60 metres below the rim, which rises 25 metres above the surrounding flat desert land.

Evidence of the impact, other than the crater itself of course, can be seen everywhere. Fragments of iron meteorite have been found kilometres from the crater. The western slopes of the crater and the floor are littered with more iron meteorite: rusty balls, some of them fused to the rocks.

Wolfe Creek meteorite crater was discovered during an aerial survey in 1947, and scientists have intensively studied the crater. But the Djaru Aboriginal people, the original inhabitants of the area, have known the crater for thousands of years. They call it Kandimalal and have their own dreamtime story about its creation:

Two rainbow serpents formed Sturt and Wolfe Creek as they crossed the desert, and Kandimalal is the place where one of the serpents emerged from the ground.

Scientific contribution: Two minerals unknown on Earth were identified in oxidized fragments of Wolfe Creek. They are reevesite, a nickel-iron carbonate, and cassidyite, a calcium-nickel-magnesium phosphate, both named for the scientists who discovered them.