Karoo (crater) Karoo (crater) Karoo is an impact crater on the Asteroid 253 Mathilde, named for the Great Karoo Basin, a coal basin in South Africa. It is 33.4 kilometers in diameter and was the most prominent crater seen during NEAR Shoemaker's Flyby of the Asteroid. The critical crater diameter is the scale at which cratering “goes global” and results in a solitary distinct crater. All smaller craters—however large D might be—are local events. Mathilde is thus a particularly interesting case, since it is the largest asteroid imaged at sufficient resolution to show that its topography is clearly exogenic, governed by impacts.
Okanagan Desert Okanagan Desert The Okanagan Desert is the common name for a semi-arid area located in the South Okanagan region of British Columbia, Canada, primarily around Osoyoos Lake. Part of the area is called the Nk'mip Desert by the Osoyoos Indian Band, though the entire region, like other similar parts of the British Columbia Interior, is technically only semi-arid shrub-steppe. While some areas in British Columbia are more arid, the South Okanagan shrub-steppe contains several species of plants that are not found elsewhere in Canada. It is the presence of these specific plants in the Antelope-brush ecosystem that is claimed to