Lappajärvi is a lake in Finland, in the municipalities of Lappajärvi, Alajärvi and Vimpeli. It is formed in a 23 km (14 mi) wide, partly eroded meteorite impact crater. The lake is part of Ähtävänjoki (Swedish: Esse å) basin together with Lake Evijärvi that is located downstream (north) of it.
The Lappajärvi impact structure is estimated to be 77.85 ± 0.78 million years old (Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous time period). Experts working on Finland's Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository project have studied Lake Lappajärvi to help them project how Finnish landscapes might look one million years in the future and beyond.
