Structural characteristics of the Sudbury impact structure,Canada: Impact‐induced versus orogenic deformation—A review

Abstract— Orogenic deformation, both preceding and following the impact event at Sudbury, strongly hinders a straightforward assessment of impact‐induced geological processes that generated the Sudbury impact structure. Central to understanding these processes is the state of strain of the Sudbury Igneous Complex, the solidified impact melt sheet, its underlying target rocks, overlying impact breccias and post‐impact sedimentary rocks. This review addresses (1) major structural, metamorphic and magmatic characteristics of the impact melt sheet and associated dikes, (2) attempts that have been made to constrain the primary geometry of the igneous complex, (3) modes of impact‐induced deformation as well as (4) mechanisms of pre‐ and post‐impact orogenic deformation. The latter have important consequences for estimating parameters such as magnitude of structural uplift, tilting of pre‐impact (Huronian) strata and displacement on major discontinuities which, collectively, have not yet been considered in impact models. In this regard, a mechanism for the emplacement of Offset Dikes is suggested, that accounts for the geometry of the dikes and magmatic characteristics, as well as the occurrence of sulfides in the dikes. Moreover, re‐interpretation of published paleomagnetic data suggests that orogenic folding of the solidified melt sheet commenced shortly after the impact. Uncertainties still exist as to whether the Sudbury impact structure was a peak‐ring or a multi‐ring basin and the deformation mechanisms of rock flow during transient cavity formation and crater modification.     

Tectonic influences on the morphometry of the Sudbury impact structure: Implications for terrestrial cratering and modeling

Abstract— Impact structures developed on active terrestrial planets (Earth and Venus) are susceptible to pre‐impact tectonic influences on their formation. This means that we cannot expect them to conform to ideal cratering models, which are commonly based on the response of a homogeneous target devoid of pre‐existing flaws. In the case of the 1.85 Ga Sudbury impact structure of Ontario, Canada, considerable influence has been exerted on modification stage processes by late Archean to early Proterozoic basement faults. Two trends are dominant: 1) the NNW‐striking Onaping Fault System, which is parallel to the 2.47 Ga Matachewan dyke swarm, and 2) the ENE‐striking Murray Fault System, which acted as a major Paleoproterozoic suture zone that contributed to the development of the Huronian sedimentary basin between 2.45–2.2 Ga. Sudbury has also been affected by syn‐ to post‐impact regional deformation and metamorphism: the 1.9–1.8 Ga Penokean orogeny, which involved NNW‐directed reverse faulting, uplift, and transpression at mainly greenschist facies grade, and the 1.16–0.99 Ga Grenville orogeny, which overprinted the SE sector of the impact structure to yield a polydeformed upper amphibolite facies terrain. The pre‐, syn‐, and post‐impact tectonics of the region have rendered the Sudbury structure a complicated feature. Careful reconstruction is required before its original morphometry can be established. This is likely to be true for many impact structures developed on active terrestrial planets. Based on extensive field work, combined with remote sensing and geophysical data, four ring systems have been identified at Sudbury. The inner three rings broadly correlate with pseudotachylyte (friction melt) ‐rich fault systems. The first ring has a diameter of ?90 km and defines what is interpreted to be the remains of the central uplift. The second ring delimits the collapsed transient cavity diameter at ?130 km and broadly corresponds to the original melt sheet diameter. The third ring has a diameter of ?180 km. The fourth ring defines the suggested apparent crater diameter at ?260 km. This approximates the final rim diameter, given that erosion in the North Range is <6 km and the ring faults are steeply dipping. Impact damage beyond Ring 4 may occur, but has not yet been identified in the field. One or more rings within the central uplift (Ring 1) may also exist. This form and concentric structure indicates that Sudbury is a peak ring or, more probably, a multi‐ring basin. These parameters provide the foundation for modeling the formation of this relatively large terrestrial impact structure.     

Empirical and theoretical comparisons of the Chicxulub and Sudbury impact structures

Abstract— Chicxulub and Sudbury are 2 of the largest impact structures on Earth. Research at the buried but well‐preserved Chicxulub crater in Mexico has identified 6 concentric structural rings. In an analysis of the preserved structural elements in the eroded and tectonically deformed Sudbury structure in Canada, we identified ring‐like structures corresponding in both radius and nature to 5 out of the 6 rings at Chicxulub. At Sudbury, the inner topographic peak ring is missing, which if it existed, has been eroded. Reconstructions of the transient cavities for each crater produce the same range of possible diameters: 80–110 km. The close correspondence of structural elements between Chicxulub and Sudbury suggests that these 2 impact structures are approximately the same size, both having a main structural basin diameter of ?150 km and outer ring diameters of ?200 km and ?260 km. This similarity in size and structure allows us to combine information from the 2 structures to assess the production of shock melt (melt produced directly upon decompression from high pressure impact) and impact melt (shock melt and melt derived from the digestion of entrained clasts and erosion of the crater wall) in large impacts. Our empirical comparisons suggest that Sudbury has ?70% more impact melt than does Chicxulub (?31,000 versus ?18,000 km³) and 85% more shock melt (27,000 km³ versus 14,500 km³). To examine possible causes for this difference, we develop an empirical method for estimating the amount of shock melt at each crater and then model the formation of shock melt in both comet and asteroid impacts. We use an analytical model that gives energy scaling of shock melt production in close agreement with more computationally intense numerical models. The results demonstrate that the differences in melt volumes can be readily explained if Chicxulub was an asteroid impact and Sudbury was a comet impact. The estimated 70% difference in melt volumes can be explained by crater size differences only if the extremes in the possible range of melt volumes and crater sizes are invoked. Preheating of the target rocks at Sudbury by the Penokean Orogeny cannot explain the excess melt at Sudbury, the majority of which resides in the suevite. The greater amount of suevite at Sudbury compared to Chicxulub may be due to the dispersal of shock melt by cometary volatiles at Sudbury.     

The Basal Onaping Intrusion in the North Range: Roof rocks of the Sudbury Igneous Complex

The 1.85 Ga Sudbury impact structure is one of the largest impact structures on Earth. Igneous bodies—the so‐called “Basal Onaping Intrusion”—occur at the contact between the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC) and the overlying Onaping Formation and occupy ~50% of this contact zone. The Basal Onaping Intrusion is presently considered part of the Onaping Formation, which is a complex series of breccias. Here, we present petrological and geochemical data from two drill cores and field data from the North Range of the Sudbury structure, which suggests that the Basal Onaping Intrusion is not part of the Onaping Formation. Our observations indicate that the Basal Onaping Intrusion crystallized from a melt and has a groundmass comprising a skeletal intergrowth of feldspar and quartz that points to simultaneous cooling of both components. Increasing grain size and decreasing amounts of clasts with increasing depth are general features of roof rocks of coherent impact melt rocks at other impact structures and the Basal Onaping Intrusion. Planar deformation features within quartz clasts of the Basal Onaping Intrusion are indicators for shock metamorphism and, together with the melt matrix, point to the Basal Onaping Intrusion as being an impact melt rock, by definition. Importantly, the contact between Granophyre of the SIC and Basal Onaping Intrusion is transitional and we suggest that the Basal Onaping Intrusion is what remains of the roof rocks of the SIC and, thus, is a unit of the SIC and not the Onaping Formation. We suggest henceforth that this unit be referred to as the “Upper Contact Unit” of the SIC.     

The South Range Breccia Belt of the Sudbury Impact Structure: A possible terrace collapse feature

Abstract— The South Range Breccia Belt (SRBB) is an arcuate, 45 km long zone of Sudbury Breccia in the South Range of the 1.85 Ga Sudbury Impact Structure. The belt varies in thickness between tens of meters to hundreds of meters and is composed of a polymict assemblage of Huronian Supergroup (2.49–2.20 Ga), Nipissing Diabase (2.2 Ga), and Proterozoic granitoid breccia fragments ranging in size from a few millimeters to tens of meters. The SRBB matrix is composed of a fine‐grained (～100 μm) assemblage of biotite, quartz, and ilmenite, with trace amounts of plagioclase, zircon, titanite, epidote, pyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, and occasionally chlorite. The SRBB hosts the Frood‐Stobie, Vermilion, and Kirkwood quartz diorite offset dykes, the former being associated with one of the largest Ni‐Cu‐PGE sulphide deposits in the world. Optical petrography and whole‐rock geochemistry concur with previous studies that have suggested that the matrix of the SRBB is derived from comminution and at least partial frictional melting of the wall rock Huronian Supergroup lithologies. Rare earth element (REE) data from all sampled lithologies associated with the SRBB exhibit crustal signatures when normalized to C1 chondrite values. Additionally, REE data from the quartz diorites, disseminated sulphides in Sudbury Breccia, and a sample of an aphanitic biotite‐hornblende tonalite dyke exhibit flat slopes when compared to the mafic and felsic norites, quartz gabbro, and granophyre units of the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC), which suggests that these lithologies are representative of bulk SIC melt. We suggest that the SRBB was formed by high strain‐rate (>1 m/s), gravity‐driven seismogenic slip of the inner ring of the Sudbury Impact Structure during postimpact crustal readjustment (crater modification stage). Failure of the hanging wall may have facilitated the injection of bulk SIC melt into the SRBB, along with the Ni‐Cu‐PGE sulphides of the Frood‐Stobie deposit. Postimpact Penokean (1.9–1.7 Ga) tectonism, particularly northwest‐directed shearing along the South Range Shear Zone and associated thrust faulting, could account for the present subvertical orientation of the SRBB, and the apparent lack of a connection at depth with the SIC.     

The Corossol structure: A possible impact crater on the seafloor of the northwestern Gulf of St. Lawrence,Eastern Canada

We report on a 4.1 (±0.2) km diameter and 185 m deep circular submarine structure exposed on the seabed in >40 m water depths in the northwestern Gulf of St. Lawrence (Eastern Canada) from the analysis of high‐resolution multibeam bathymetric and seismic data. The presence of a circular form characterized by a central uplift and concentric rings resembles the morphology and geometry of complex meteorite impact structures. Also, other origins, such as kimberlites, intrusions, karsts, or diapirs, can be eliminated on geological criteria. A single 4 cm long breccia fragment recovered from the central uplift has numerous glassy droplets of fluorapatite composition, assumed to be impact melts, and a single quartz grain with planar intersection features thought to be shock‐induced planar deformation features (PDFs). The absolute age of this possible impact structure is unknown, but its geological setting indicates that it was formed long after the Mid‐Ordovician and before regional pre‐Quaternary sea‐level lowstands. Present results outline the need for further examination to confirm an impact origin and to precisely date the formation of the structure.     

Complex crater formation: Insights from combining observations of shock pressure distribution with numerical models at the West Clearwater Lake impact structure

Large impact structures have complex morphologies, with zones of structural uplift that can be expressed topographically as central peaks and/or peak rings internal to the crater rim. The formation of these structures requires transient strength reduction in the target material and one of the proposed mechanisms to explain this behavior is acoustic fluidization. Here, samples of shock‐metamorphosed quartz‐bearing lithologies at the West Clearwater Lake impact structure, Canada, are used to estimate the maximum recorded shock pressures in three dimensions across the crater. These measurements demonstrate that the currently observed distribution of shock metamorphism is strongly controlled by the formation of the structural uplift. The distribution of peak shock pressures, together with apparent crater morphology and geological observations, is compared with numerical impact simulations to constrain parameters used in the block‐model implementation of acoustic fluidization. The numerical simulations produce craters that are consistent with morphological and geological observations. The results show that the regeneration of acoustic energy must be an important feature of acoustic fluidization in crater collapse, and should be included in future implementations. Based on the comparison between observational data and impact simulations, we conclude that the West Clearwater Lake structure had an original rim (final crater) diameter of 35–40 km and has since experienced up to ~2 km of differential erosion.     

Impact melt dikes in the Sudbury multi-ring basin (Canada): Implications from uranium-lead geochronology on the Foy Offset Dike

Abstract To investigate the origin of Offset Dikes and their age relationships to major impact generated lithologies in the Sudbury multi-ring impact structure, such as the Main Mass of the Sudbury “Igneous” Complex, zircon and baddeleyite were dated by the U-Pb chronometer. The rocks analysed are one diorite and two quartz diorites from inside the Foy Offset, one quartz diorite from the contact zone, and two country rock samples collected at 10 and 30 m distances from the contact within the Levack Gneiss Complex. The 21 analysed zircon and baddeleyite fractions yield a crystallization age of 1852 +4/-3 (2σ) Ma for the accessory minerals in the Foy Offset Dike and an age of 2635 ± 5 Ma for the shocked Levack country rock, in which zircons show significant shock effects (multiple sets of planar fractures), in contrast to the totally unshocked zircons of the Offset Dike. Within given errors, the new age of 1852 Ma is identical to the pooled 1850 ± 1 Ma U-Pb age determined by Krogh et al. (1984) as the crystallization age of accessory phases in different lithologies of the Sudbury “Igneous” Complex, which has been interpreted to represent the coherent impact melt sheet of the Sudbury Structure. This excellent agreement of the ages substantiates that emplacement of the Offset Dikes occurred coevally with the formation of the impact melt sheet. Total absence of inherited zircons in the central part of the Foy Offset indicates melting of the precursor material at temperatures well above 1700 °C, which emphasizes the origin of the dike lithologies by impact melting.     

Geology and impact features of Riachão structure,northern Brazil

Riachão, located at S7°42′/W46°38′ in Maranhão State, northeastern Brazil, is a complex impact structure of about 4.1 km diameter, formed in Pennsylvanian to Permian sedimentary rocks of the Parnaíba Basin sequence. Although its impact origin was already proposed in the 1970s, information on its geology and shock features is still scarce in the literature. We present here the main geomorphological and geological characteristics of the Riachão impact structure obtained by integrated geophysical and remote sensing analysis, as well as geological field work and petrographic analysis. The identified lithostratigraphic units consist of different levels of the Pedra de Fogo Formation and, possibly, the Piauí Formation. Our petrographic analysis confirms the presence of shock‐diagnostic planar microdeformation structures in quartz grains of sandstone from the central uplift as evidence for an impact origin of the Riachão structure. The absence of crater‐filling impact breccias and melt rocks, shatter cones, as well as the restricted occurrence of microscopic shock effects, suggests that intense and relatively deep erosion has occurred since crater formation.     

The first large meteorite impact structure discovered in the Middle East: Jebel Waqf as Suwwan,Jordan

Abstract— Triggered by re‐evaluation of a 1960s report on the regional geology of the northeastern border region of Jordan and following Landsat satellite image investigation, a 5.5 km diameter, complex, circular structure was discovered in the central eastern region of the Kingdom of Jordan. Initial ground truthing revealed complex geological structures involving Upper Cretaceous and Paleogene strata, and including a prominent outer rim rising up to 60 m above the surrounding plain, an intermediate ring of up to 20 m elevation within a ring syncline, and a central zone of stratigraphically uplifted sedimentary strata characterized by intense macroscopic (folding and faulting, widespread cataclasis) and locally mesoscopic (cataclasis) deformation. Ten sites with shatter cone development in fine‐grained sandstone or limestone have been mapped to date, mostly in the outer parts of the central uplifted area. This finding confirms that the Jebel Waqf as Suwwan structure was formed as the result of the impact of an extraterrestrial projectile. Search for impact‐diagnostic micro‐deformation has been rather unsuccessful: only 1 quartz grain with both planar deformation features and planar fractures has been detected in a sandstone sample to date. The overall majority of the approximately 70 samples investigated by micropetrographic analysis consist of extremely fine‐grained chert, siltstone, or marly limestone. Cataclasis is widespread in chert and limestone, also on the micro‐scale. Considering the severely limited amount of characteristic impact microdeformation, and the stratigraphic situation within the central uplift, it is likely that a relatively deep level of the central uplift is currently exposed. The extensive drainage demonstrated for this region supports the conclusion that this impact structure could be quite deeply eroded‐especially as its geology involves some relatively soft lithologies (marls, limestones). The age of this impact event is at present poorly constrained at post‐Middle to Lower Eocene.     

Observations and interpretations at Vredefort,Sudbury, and Chicxulub: Towards an empirical model of terrestrial impact basin formation

Abstract— The structural, topographic and other characteristics of the Vredefort, Sudbury, and Chicxulub impact structures are described. Assuming that the structures originally had the same morphology, the observations/interpretations for each structure are compared and extended to the other structures. This does not result in any major inconsistencies but requires that the observations be scaled spatially. In the case of Vredefort and Sudbury, this is accomplished by scaling the outer limit of particular shock metamorphic features. In the case of Chicxulub, scaling requires a reasoned assumption as to the formation mechanism of an interior peak ring. The observations/interpretations are then used to construct an integrated, empirical kinematic model for a terrestrial peak‐ring basin. The major attributes of the model include: a set of outward‐directed thrusts in the parautochthonous rocks of the outermost environs of the crater floor, some of which are pre‐existing structures that have been reactivated during transient cavity formation; inward‐directed motions along the same outermost structures and along a set of structures, at intermediate radial distances, during transient cavity collapse; structural uplift in the center followed by a final set of radially outward‐directed thrusts at the outer edges of the structural uplift, during uplift collapse. The rock displacements on the intermediate, inward and innermost, outward sets of structures are consistent with the assumption that a peak ring will result from the convergence of the collapse of the transient cavity rim area and the collapse of the structural uplift.     

Numerical Modeling of the Largest Terrestrial Meteorite Craters

Multi-ring impact basins have been found on the surfaces of almost all planetary bodies in the Solar system with solid crusts. The details of their formation mechanism are still unclear. We present results of our numerical modeling of the formation of the largest known terrestrial impact craters. The geological and geophysical data on these structures accumulated over many decades are used to place constraints on the parameters of available numerical models with a dual purpose: (i) to choose parameters in available mechanical models for the crustal response of planetary bodies to a large impact and (ii) to use numerical modeling to refine the possible range of original diameters and the morphology of partially eroded terrestrial craters. We present numerical modeling results for the Vredefort, Sudbury, Chicxulub, and Popigai impact craters and compare these results with available geological and geophysical information.     

The evolution of the Onaping Formation at the Sudbury impact structure

Abstract– The 1.4–1.6 km thick Onaping Formation consists of a complex series of breccias and “melt bodies” lying above the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC) at the Sudbury impact structure. Based on the presence of shocked lithic clasts and various “glassy” phases, the Onaping has been described as a “suevitic” breccia, with an origin, at least in part, as fallback material. Recent mapping and a redefined stratigraphy have emphasized similarities and differences in its various vitric phases, both as clast types and discrete intrusive bodies. The nature of the Onaping and that of other “suevitic” breccias overlying impact melt sheets is reviewed. The relative thickness, internal stratigraphic and lithological character, and the relative chronology of depositional units indicate multiple processes were involved over some time in the formation of the Onaping. The Sudbury structure formed in a foreland basin and water played an essential role in the evolution of the Onaping, as indicated by a major hydrothermal system generated during its formation. Taken together, observations and interpretations of the Onaping suggest a working hypothesis for the origin of the Onaping that includes not only impact but also the interaction of sea water with the impact melt, resulting in repeated explosive interactions involving proto‐SIC materials and mixing with pre‐existing lithologies. This is complicated by additional brecciation events due to the intrusion of proto‐SIC materials into the evolving and thickening Onaping. Fragmentation mechanisms changed as the system evolved and involved vesiculation in the formation of the upper two‐thirds of the Onaping.     

Petrography and geochemistry of ejecta from the Sudbury impact event

Ejecta from the Connors Creek site in Michigan (500 km from the Sudbury Igneous Complex [SIC]), the Pine River site in western Ontario (650 km from the SIC), and the Coleraine site in Minnesota (980 km from the SIC) were petrographically and geochemically analyzed. Connors Creek was found to have approximately 2 m of ejecta, including shocked quartz, melt droplets, and accretionary lapilli; Pine River has similar deposits about 1 m in thickness, although with smaller lapilli; Coleraine contains only impact spherules in a 20 cm‐thick layer (impact spherules being similar to microkrystites or microtektites). The ejecta transition from chaotic deposits of massively bedded impactoclastic material with locally derived detritus at Connors Creek to a deposit with apparently very little detrital material that is primarily composed of melt droplets at Pine River to a deposit that is almost entirely composed of melt spherules at Coleraine. The major and trace element compositions of the ejecta confirm the previously observed similarity of the ejecta deposits to the Onaping Formation in the SIC. Platinum‐group element (PGE) concentrations from each of the sites were also measured, revealing significantly elevated PGE contents in the spherule samples compared with background values. PGE abundances in samples from the Pine River site can be reproduced by addition of approximately 0.2 wt% CI chondrite to the background composition of the underlying sediments in the core. PGE interelement ratios indicate that the Sudbury impact event was probably caused by a chondritic impactor.     

Terrestrial impact: The record in the rocks*

Abstract— Approximately 130 terrestrial craters are currently known. They range up to 140 km, and perhaps as much as 200 km, in diameter and from Recent to ～2 billion years in age. The known sample, however, is highly biased to geologically young craters on the better known cratonic areas. The sample is also deficient in small (D < 20 km) craters compared to other planetary bodies. These biases are largely the result of active terrestrial geologic processes and their effects have to be considered when interpreting the record. The strength of the terrestrial cratering record lies in the availability of ground truth data, particularly on the structural and lithological nature of craters, which can be interpreted to understand and constrain large-scale impact processes. Some contributions include the definition of the concept of transient cavity formation and structural uplift during cratering events. Depths of excavation are poorly constrained, as very few terrestrial craters have preserved ejecta. Unlike their planetary counterparts, terrestrial impact craters are mostly recognized not by morphology but by the occurrence of characteristic shock metamorphic effects. Their study has led to models of shock wave attenuation and an understanding of the character and formation of various impact-lithologies, including impact melt rocks. They, in turn, aid in interpreting the nature of extraterrestrial samples, particularly samples from the lunar highlands. The recognition of diagnostic shock metamorphic effects and the signature of projectile contamination through geochemical anomalies in impact lithologies provide the basis for recognizing the impact signature in K/T boundary samples. The record also provides a basis for testing hypotheses of periodic cometary showers. Although inherently not suitable to define short wavelength periods in time due to relatively large uncertainties associated with crater ages, the current record shows no evidence of periodicity. Future directions in terrestrial impact studies will likely continue to focus on the K/T and related problems, including the recognition of other impact signatures in the stratigraphic record. Some emphasis will likely be given to the economic potential of craters and individual large structures, such as Sudbury, will provide an increasingly better understood context for interpreting planetary impact craters. To live up to the full potential of the record to constrain impact processes, however, more basic characterization studies are required, in addition to emphasis on topical areas of study.     

Accretionary lapilli from the Sudbury impact event

Meteorite impact‐generated accretionary lapilli are not well studied. The recently discovered distal ejecta from the 1850 Ma Sudbury impact event contain abundant accretionary lapilli generated during the impact and deposited at great distances from the crater. We petrographically and geochemically examined lapilli from five sites (McClure, Connors Creek, Hwy 588, Pine River, and Grand Trunk Pacific, approximately 480–750 km from the center of the Sudbury structure). The compositions of quartz, K‐feldspar, calcite, biotite, and chlorite minerals are similar to each other in all of the samples, although the relative proportions of the minerals vary from site to site. The lapilli occur in a matrix of coarse‐grained quartz, carbonate, and feldspar grains. Zonation within lapilli appears to be due to grain size distribution rather than compositional variation. The inner zones are coarser grained than outer zones. The relative abundances of calcite, phyllosilicates, and feldspars are similar in each zone within individual lapilli. A meteoritic component is indicated by up to 1.8 ppb Ir in one lapillus from the Pine River site, and Ni and Cr ratios are on a chondritic trend line for many of the lapilli. Mechanisms previously proposed for accretionary lapilli formation seem inadequate to explain deposition of distal accretionary lapilli resulting from impact events. A new mechanism for upper atmospheric accretion is proposed, whereby ash ejected from impact events concentrates at altitudes of neutral buoyancy, where it then accretes and is deposited later than ballistically emplaced particles. Likely, multiple processes are taking place in the chaotic postimpact environment.     

Origin and emplacement of Offset Dykes in the Sudbury impact structure: Constraints from Hess

Abstract— The Hess Offset is a steeply dipping dyke located 12–15 km north of the 1.85 Ga Sudbury igneous complex (SIC) within the 200–250 km diameter Sudbury impact structure. It is up to 60 m wide and strikes subconcentrically to the SIC for at least 23 km. The main phase of the dyke is granodioritic, but it conforms with what is locally referred to as Quartz Diorite: a term used for all the Offset Dykes of the Sudbury impact structure. Rare earth element data shows that the Hess Offset is genetically related to the SIC. Hess is most closely affiliated with an evolved Felsic Norite component of SIC and not bulk impact melt. This indicates that Hess was emplaced during fractionation of the impact melt sheet, rather than immediately following impact. The main Quartz Diorite phase of the dyke comprises a quartz + plagioclase + hornblende + biotite ± clinopyroxene ± orthopyroxene assemblage. Critically, the Hess Offset occupies a concentric fault system that marks the northern limit of a pseudotachylyte-rich, shatter cone-bearing annulus about the SIC. This fault system was active during the modification stage of the impact process.     

The “suevite” conundrum,Part 1: The Ries suevite and Sudbury Onaping Formation compared

The term “suevite” has been applied to various impact melt‐bearing breccias found in different stratigraphic settings within terrestrial impact craters. Suevite was coined initially for impact glass‐bearing breccias from the Ries impact structure, Germany, which is the type locality. Various working hypotheses have been proposed to account for the formation of the Ries suevite deposits over the past several decades, with the most recent being molten‐fuel‐coolant interaction (MFCI) between an impact melt pool and water. This mechanism is also the working hypothesis for the origin of the bulk of the Onaping Formation at the Sudbury impact structure, Canada. In this study, the key characteristics of the Ries suevite, the Onaping Formation and MFCI deposits from phreatomagmatic volcanic eruptions are compared. The conclusion is that there are clear and significant lithological, stratigraphic, and petrographic observational differences between the Onaping Formation and the Ries suevite. The Onaping Formation, however, shares many key similarities with MFCI deposits, including the presence of layering, their well‐sorted and fine‐grained nature, and the predominance of vitric particles with similar shapes and lacking included mineral and lithic clasts. These differences argue against the viability of MFCI as a working hypothesis for genesis of the Ries suevite and for a required alternative mechanism for its formation.     

Differentiation and emplacement of the Worthington Offset Dike of the Sudbury impact structure,Ontario

Abstract— The Offset Dikes of the 1.85 Ga Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC) constitute a key topic in understanding the chemical evolution of the impact melt, its mineralization, and the interplay between melt migration and impact‐induced deformation. The origin of the melt rocks in Offset Dikes as well as mode and timing of their emplacement are still a matter of debate. Like many other offset dikes, the Worthington is composed of an early emplaced texturally rather homogeneous quartz‐diorite (QD) phase at the dike margin, and an inclusion‐ and sulfide‐rich quartz‐diorite (IQD) phase emplaced later and mostly in the centre of the dike. The chemical heterogeneity within and between QD and IQD is mainly attributed to variable assimilation of host rocks at the base of the SIC, prior to emplacement of the melt into the dike. Petrological data suggest that the parental magma of the Worthington Dike mainly developed during the pre‐liquidus temperature interval of the thermal evolution of the impact melt sheet (>1200 °C). Based on thermal models of the cooling history of the SIC, the two‐stage emplacement of the Worthington Dike occurred likely thousands to about ten thousand years after impact. Structural analysis indicates that an alignment of minerals and host rock fragments within the Worthington Dike was caused by ductile deformation under greenschist‐facies metamorphic conditions rather than flow during melt emplacement. It is concluded that the Worthington Offset Dike resulted from crater floor fracturing, possibly driven by late‐stage isostatic readjustment of crust underlying the impact structure.     

Chemical variations and genetic relationships between the Hess and Foy offset dikes at the Sudbury impact structure

Offset dikes are found concentrically around—and extending radially outward from—the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC), which represents an ~3 km thick differentiated impact melt sheet. The dikes are typically composed of an inclusion‐rich, so‐called quartz diorite (IQD) in the center of the dike, and an inclusion‐poor quartz diorite (QD) along the margins of the dike. New exposures of the intersection between the concentric Hess and radial Foy offset dikes provide an excellent opportunity to understand the relationship between the radial and concentric offset dikes and their internal phases. The goal was to constrain the timing of the dike emplacements relative to the impact and formation of the SIC. Results herein suggest that (1) the timing between the emplacement of the QD and IQD melts was geologically short, (2) the Hess and Foy dikes coexisted as melts at the same time and the intersection between them represents a mixture of the two, (3) the Foy dike has a slightly more evolved chemical composition than the Hess dike, and (4) the IQD melt from the Foy dike underwent some degree of chemical fractionation after its initial emplacement.