DID YOU KNOW?

Meteorites often strike at an angle, but the one that created Pingualuit Crater Lake came down almost vertically, resulting in the near-perfect circle imprinted on the earth’s surface. The impact created a ring that measures 3.4 kilometres in diameter, and when the ice sheet receded during the last ice age, water filled the crater to form a lake that is 267 metres deep. Because there are no inflows or outlets, the lake holds some of the clearest freshwater on Earth. It’s also home to a single species of fish, the Arctic char… though no one knows how the fish got there.

Formerly known as Chubb Crater and New Quebec Crater, Pingualuit Crater Lake was the first meteorite crater to be recognized in Canada (others have since been identified). Local Nunavimmiut have long known about its existence, and it is regarded as a sacred site of healing. Outside of the Pingualuit region, the crater lake was a well-kept secret until 1943, when an American aircrew spotted it. Its unusual shape and vivid colour made it a useful navigational aid for pilots, and because of its remote location, geological expeditions to the crater didn’t begin until the 1950s.

Thanks to the crater’s deep (400 metres) shape, sediment deposits at the bottom of Pingualuit Crater Lake escaped glacial erosion and are remarkably well preserved. These sediments have yielded information about climate change, and they provide a long-term record of environmental history dating back to (at least) the last two glacial periods.