Geology is far more interesting in it's controversies that it's actual science. For example, in Utah there is a large, uniquely shaped crater called Upheaval Dome whose origins were hotly contested for sometime. It's located a little more than 15 miles southwest of the town of Moab, Utah, just off the Syncline Trail.
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| Doesn't really look like much from the ground level. |
There were two schools of thought, one being that it was simply remnants of a very large salt dome, as they are very common across southern Utah, though usually not so large.
However, that theory seems to have now been dismissed as in 2008 scientist discovered shocked quartz underneath it. What does that mean? It is exactly what the competing theory suggested, which is a very large meteorite crater, as the formation of those crystals is only possible with massive amounts of pressure. They suspect it may have happened roughly 60 million years ago, and underground rocks rose up to the surface afterwards, creating the formation as we see it today.
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| Viewed from above, the scene is much more dramatic. |
Pics from: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/upheaval-dome
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