Lake Manicouagan, 2024 (Landsat 8 infrared imagery)

A large, round lake in Quebec, Canada, highlights the geography of an ancient impact crater. In the late Triassic Period, a 3 mile wide meteorite struck northern Pangea at over 30,000 miles per hour. The resulting crater is now 214 million years old, but the dramatic circular lake visible in 2024 Landsat imagery is a surprisingly recent feature. It was the completion of the Daniel-Johnson Dam in 1968 that united two river systems, creating the Manicouagan Reservoir, or the Eye of Quebec.