QTVR panorama (approx. 1.5 MB). The panorama only turns partway around.
The Steinheimer Becken is a second impact crater about 40 km southwest of the Nördlinger Ries. It was created simultaneously by a second, smaller meteorite and is about 3.5km in diameter. Here the impact did not eject any igneous basement rock. On the other hand, rebounding of the Earth's crust and slumping of the crater walls after the impact led to the formation of a central peak, the hill just behind the village and at the center of the panorama when it opens. As the Steinheimer Becken is deeper in relation to its diameter when compared with the Nördlinger Ries, it is easier to recognize the crater as such (2005 / Copyright J. Alean).
