Sometimes, a little curiosity and a good internet connection can change our understanding of the planet. That’s exactly what happened this summer when Joël Lapointe, an amateur astronomer from Quebec, stumbled onto something extraordinary—while simply planning a camping trip. Using Google Maps to chart his route through the remote Côte-Nord region, Lapointe spotted a massive, nearly perfect ring-shaped indentation that looked nothing like the surrounding forest. What he’d found, it turns out, was a meteor impact crater about 15 kilometers (roughly 9 miles) wide—one that had gone unnoticed for hundreds of millions of years.
After spotting the strange formation, Lapointe reached out to local experts. His observation eventually made its way to Gordon Osinski, a planetary geologist at Western University and administrator of the Impact Earth website, which tracks meteor craters worldwide. “I get lots of messages from the public thinking they have found a crater and 99 out of 100 turn out not to be the case,” Osinski told Live Science. “This is one of those rare examples that shows this is possible.”
The Science Behind the Find
The evidence gathered so far strongly supports the idea that this ring is a genuine impact crater, dating back about 390 million years. Scientists say the crater likely formed when a massive space rock slammed into the Earth during the Devonian period. At roughly 15 kilometers across, it’s considerably larger than the 1–2 new craters (typically under 10 kilometers wide) that are confirmed globally each year.
Canada is already famous for its abundance of impact craters—31 have been confirmed so far, out of about 200 known on Earth. Its vast, stable terrain and relative geological quiet make it a prime location for preserving these ancient scars. Still, many more craters are suspected to be hidden under forests, lakes, and soil across the country.
Citizen Science at Work
This discovery is a testament to the power of citizen science, modern mapping tools, and a bit of luck. “It’s not every day that an ordinary citizen finds a 390-million-year-old crater,” Lapointe told Radio-Canada, clearly delighted by the confirmation.
Gordon Osinski emphasized the vital role played by public curiosity. “Without Daniel, this wouldn’t have happened,” he said, referring to Daniel Breton, another Quebec resident who also spotted the depression and contacted researchers. While more scientific work is needed to fully analyze and verify the site, the evidence so far is deeply encouraging—and it’s a reminder that sometimes, science’s next breakthrough can be found right from your living room, with just a few clicks.
