22nd July 2026; 12:13 IST
In one of the most astonishing citizen-science discoveries of the decade, a simple vacation-planning session on Google Maps has led to the confirmation of a massive, 390-million-year-old meteorite impact crater hidden deep in the Canadian wilderness.
Amateur astronomer Joël Lapointe was casually scanning satellite imagery around Quebec’s remote Côte-Nord region to map out an upcoming camping trip when he noticed something highly unusual: a near-perfect, 15.5-mile (25-kilometer) circular ring surrounding Lake Marsal.
Recognizing that nature rarely produces such symmetrical circular features on this scale, Lapointe contacted researchers at Impact Earth, a crowdsourced impact crater identification platform hosted by Western University. Intrigued by the satellite data, planetary geologist Dr. Gordon Osinski and a team of scientific researchers organized a field expedition into the rugged terrain surrounding Lake Marsal.
What the team discovered on the ground confirmed Lapointe's suspicions:
Following formal consultations with the local Innu Council of Ekuanitshit, the newly confirmed impact structure has officially been named Uhackatik. The discovery represents one of the largest newly confirmed meteorite craters identified globally in recent years.
Preliminary geological dating places the impact event approximately 390 million years ago during the Devonian period—a time long before dinosaurs walked the Earth, when primitive marine life dominated the oceans and early vegetation was colonizing landmasses.
This discovery underscores the incredible democratizing power of modern consumer mapping tools like Google Maps and Google Earth. High-resolution satellite imagery, once reserved exclusively for government intelligence and specialized scientific institutions, is now available to anyone with an internet connection.
The research team is scheduled to present their full analytical findings, including mineralogical shock analysis and precise radiometric dating, at the 88th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society in Germany in August 2026.
Joël Lapointe’s discovery proves that Earth’s geography still holds ancient secrets waiting to be uncovered right in front of our eyes. Whether you are a seasoned geologist or a curious browser exploring satellite maps, the next major scientific breakthrough could be just a click away.
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