<p>A manmade crater would leave behind traces of the chemical(s) used to create it (C4, TNT, ANFO, etc.). Assuming the impactor were large enough, there would be traces of shocked quartz or other shocked stone in and around the crater. If the impactor landed in limestone, then there would be significant quantities of quicklime. (I'm purposely omitting thermonuclear devices here.)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-21T23:28:00.643Z
2015-07-21T23:28:00.643Z
BillDOe
<p>(How) Is it possible to tell the difference between a man made explosive crater and an impact crater?</p>

<geology><impact-craters>
How to distinguish an explosion crater from an impact crater?
Lucian09474
# How to distinguish an explosion crater from an impact crater?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-07-21)

(How) Is it possible to tell the difference between a man made explosive crater and an impact crater?

**Tags:** geology, impact-craters


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-07-21. Score: 8 | Accepted answer

A manmade crater would leave behind traces of the chemical(s) used to create it (C4, TNT, ANFO, etc.). Assuming the impactor were large enough, there would be traces of shocked quartz or other shocked stone in and around the crater. If the impactor landed in limestone, then there would be significant quantities of quicklime. (I'm purposely omitting thermonuclear devices here.)


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