Quebec Man Finds 390-Million-Year-Old Meteor Crater on Google Maps

A man planning a camping trip in Quebec stumbled upon something far older than the forest he intended to visit. While browsing Google Maps, Joël Lapointe noticed a massive, almost perfectly circular pit in the remote Côte-Nord region. What he assumed was a geological oddity has now been confirmed by scientists as a 390-million-year-old meteorite impact crater.

Lapointe, an experienced outdoor enthusiast, was scanning satellite imagery for a new route when the feature caught his eye. The depression, roughly 15 kilometres wide, sat in an area dominated by the Marsal Lake and the Magpie River. He sent screenshots to geologists at the University of Quebec's Centre for Northern Studies.

From Satellite Glitch to Scientific Find

Initial scepticism was high. The region's landscape is dotted with glacial depressions, and many circular features turn out to be volcanic calderas or sinkholes. But Lapointe's discovery showed unusual concentric rings and a central uplift—hallmarks of an ancient impact site.

Researchers from the University of Quebec and the Geological Survey of Canada visited the site in late 2025. They collected rock samples from the rim and the central peak. Analysis of the shocked quartz and shatter cones—mineral deformations only created by extreme pressure—confirmed the extraterrestrial origin.

The crater dates back to the Devonian Period, roughly 390 million years ago. This places it well before the first dinosaurs, which appeared around 230 million years ago. The impact would have vaporised rock instantly, creating a basin that later filled with sediment and water.

What the Crater Reveals

The newly named Marsal Crater is one of only about 200 confirmed impact craters on Earth. Most are heavily eroded or buried. Quebec's Canadian Shield, one of the oldest rock formations on the planet, preserves several such scars.

“This is a rare window into the Earth's deep past,” said Dr. Émilie Gagnon, a planetary geologist involved in the study. “The Devonian was a time of major marine life expansion. An impact this large would have triggered tsunamis and thrown debris into the atmosphere globally.”

The crater's age also coincides with a known extinction event in the Devonian period, though scientists have not yet confirmed a direct link. Officials have not released specific data on the size of the meteorite or the exact energy released during the impact.

Google Earth as a Research Tool

Lapointe's find highlights how satellite imagery is democratising geological discovery. Amateur sleuths using platforms like Google Earth have spotted ancient ruins, shipwrecks, and unmarked archaeological sites. In 2022, a Canadian man discovered a possible meteorite crater in Alberta using similar methods.

The Quebec government and local First Nations communities have been informed of the discovery. The site is remote, accessible only by floatplane or helicopter. There are no immediate plans to develop it for tourism, though researchers are eager to conduct more detailed surveys.

Geologists will now map the crater's subsurface structure using ground-penetrating radar. They also hope to drill into the central uplift to retrieve deeper rock samples. Such data could reveal what kind of meteorite struck and whether the impact triggered a mass extinction.

For now, Lapointe says he is simply pleased that his casual map-scrolling led to a major scientific breakthrough. “I was just looking for a quiet place to set up a tent,” he told reporters. “I found a piece of the solar system instead.”