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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsWhile planning a camping trip through Quebec in 2024, amateur astronomer Joël Lapointe noticed a striking circular feature on Google Maps. According to Discover Magazine’s July 24, 2026 report, he alerted experts, who later identified the feature as a previously unknown meteorite impact crater in the Côte-Nord region. The report puts its diameter at about 25 kilometers and the impact’s age at roughly 390 million years.
What did Lapointe find on Google Maps?
Lapointe was using Google Maps while planning a camping trip through Quebec when he spotted a conspicuous circular formation. The report does not specify the exact search phrase he used or establish that he was searching for the crater itself; the map observation arose in the course of trip planning.
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The feature is in Quebec’s Côte-Nord region. A circular shape on a map can prompt a closer look, but the map view alone does not establish that a landform is an impact crater. The identification came later, after Lapointe alerted experts.
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How did researchers identify it as an impact crater?
Discover Magazine says researchers investigated the site and mentions shatter cones among the evidence. Shatter cones are distinctive geological structures associated with the intense pressures of an impact. In this account, they are part of the reported field evidence supporting the crater identification—not a result independently assessed here.
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The report describes the feature as a meteorite impact crater. The primary research paper and an official institutional announcement were not verified, so details of the geological analysis, dating method and supporting data cannot be established from this account alone.
How large is the crater, and when did the impact happen?
Discover Magazine reports an approximate diameter of 25 kilometers and dates the impact to roughly 390 million years ago. These are reported scientific estimates, not exact figures independently confirmed here. The age refers to the impact event, not to Lapointe’s discovery, which the report places in 2024.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why is the discovery notable?
The story connects an ordinary map-viewing task with a geological discovery: a noticeable pattern caught one person’s attention, and experts then investigated it as a possible impact structure. Google Maps provided the setting for the observation; the crater identification depended on the subsequent research described in the report.
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