Last Updated – 20 July 2025
Meteor Strike May Have Triggered Massive Grand Canyon Landslide 56,000 Years Ago
A meteor impact in northern Arizona may have triggered a massive landslide in the Grand Canyon around 56,000 years ago, altering the course of the Colorado River and forming a now-vanished paleolake. Researchers discovered driftwood and lake sediments in Stanton’s Cave, located within Marble Canyon, adding to a growing body of evidence that the river was once blocked by a massive rockfall.
Radiocarbon dating places the driftwood before all known flooding events, pointing to a major geological disruption potentially caused by seismic shockwaves from a meteor crater impact over 100 miles away. The findings were reported on July 15 in a scientific journal.
According to a report by the University of New Mexico, the research team used radiocarbon dating and geological analysis to trace the origin of driftwood found in what would have been a paleolake formed after the Colorado River was dammed by the powerful landslide. The landslide may have been triggered by seismic waves from the meteor crater impact, possibly registering a magnitude 5.4 to 6 earthquake.
Co-lead author Karl Karlstrom noted that the resulting flood was ten times larger than any other known event in the past several thousand years.
The paper suggests a natural dam formed a 50-mile-long, 300-foot-deep paleolake upstream of the river, with evidence such as beaver tracks in the caves, likely linked to the significant geological event caused by the Barringer Crater impact. However, researchers also acknowledge other possible causes, such as local earthquakes or spontaneous rockfalls.
Sediment layers and so-called driftwood found in cave systems more than 3,100 feet above sea level indicate a lake formed due to a blocked dam, potentially leading to dramatic consequences for the Grand Canyon’s landscape.
Experts say the meteor link to the landslide is “compelling,” but more data is needed to rule out all other possible triggers and to determine how a single event could have reshaped the Grand Canyon.
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