Constraints on central uplift structure from the Manicouagan impact crater

Abstract— Recent drilling operations at the 90 km diameter, late Triassic Manicouagan impact crater of Quebec, Canada, have provided new insight into the internal structure of a complex crater's central region. Previous work had indicated that the impact event generated a ?55 km diameter sheet of molten rock of relatively consistent (originally ?400 m) thickness (Floran et al. 1978). The drilling data reveals melt sheet thicknesses of up to ?1500 m, with kilometer‐scale lateral and substantial vertical variations in the geometry of the crater floor beneath the melt sheet. The thickest melt section occurs in a 1500 m deep central trough encircled by a horseshoe‐shaped uplift of Precambrian basement. The uplift constitutes a modified central peak structure, at least part of which breached the melt sheet. Mineralogical and compositional segregation (differentiation) of the thicker melt sheet section, coupled with a lack of fractionation in the thinner units, shows that the footwall geometry and associated trough structure were in place prior to melt sheet solidification. Marked lateral changes in sub‐melt sheet (basement) relief support the existence of a castellated footwall that was created by high‐angle, impact‐related offsets of 100s to 1000s of meters. This indicates that deformation during the modification stage of the cratering process was primarily facilitated by large‐displacement fault systems. This work suggests that Manicouagan is a central peak basin with rings, which does not appear to fit with current complex crater classification schemes.     

Ramgarh,Rajasthan, India: A 10 km diameter complex impact structure

The Ramgarh structure is a morphological landmark in southeastern Rajasthan, India. Its 200 m high and 3.5–4 km wide annular collar has provoked many hypotheses regarding its origin, including impact. Here, we document planar deformation features, planar fractures, and feather features in quartz grains of the central part of the Ramgarh structure, which confirm its impact origin. The annular collar does not mark the crater rim but represents the outer part of a central uplift of an approximately 10 km diameter complex impact structure. The apparent crater rim is exposed as a low‐angle normal fault and can be traced as lineaments in remote sensing imagery. The central uplift shows a stratigraphic uplift of ~1000 m and is rectangular in shape. It is dissected by numerous faults that are co‐genetic with the formation of the central uplift. The central uplift has a bilateral symmetry along an SW‐NE axis, where a large strike‐slip fault documents a strong horizontal shear component. This direction corresponds to the assumed impact trajectory from the SW toward the NE. The uprange sector is characterized by concentric reverse faults, whereas radial faults dominate downrange. Sandstones of the central uplift are infiltrated by Fe‐oxides and suggest an impact‐induced hydrothermal mineralization overprint. The impact may have occurred into a shallow water environment as indicated by soft‐sediment deformation features, observed near the apparent crater rim, and the deposition of a diamictite layer above them. Gastropods embedded in the diamictite have Middle Jurassic age and may indicate the time of the impact.     

Reconstruction Of The Subsurface Structure Of The Marquez Impact Crater In Leon County,Texas, Usa,Based On Well‐Log And Gravity Data

Abstract— In Leon County, Texas, USA, the Marquez Dome, an approximately circular 1.2 km diameter zone of disturbed Cretaceous rocks surrounded by shallow dipping Tertiary sediments, has been interpreted by Gibson and Sharpton (1989) and Sharpton and Gibson (1990) as the surface expression of a buried complex impact crater. New gravity and magnetic anomaly data collected over the Marquez Dome have been combined with well‐log and seismic reflection information to develop a better estimate of the overall geometry of the structure. A three‐dimensional model constructed to a depth of 2000 m from all available information indicates a complex crater 13 km in diameter with an uplift in the center of at least 1120 m. The zone of deformation associated with the cratering event is limited to a depth of <1720 m. No impact breccias were recovered in drilling at two locations, 1.1 and 2 km from the center of the structure, and the central uplift may be the only prominent remnant of this impact into unconsolidated, water‐rich sediments. The magnetic anomaly field shows no correlation with the location and extent of the structure.     

The Bosumtwi meteorite impact structure,Ghana: A magnetic model

Abstract— A magnetic model is proposed for the Bosumtwi meteorite impact structure in Ghana, Africa. This relatively young (～1.07 Ma) structure with a diameter of ～10.5 km is exposed within early Proterozoic Birimian—Tarkwaian rocks. The central part of the structure is buried under postimpact lake sediments, and because of lack of drill cores, geophysics is the only way to reveal its internal structure. To study the structure below and beyond the lake, a high‐resolution, low altitude (～70 m) airborne geophysical survey across the structure was conducted, which included measurements of the total magnetic field, electromagnetic data, and gamma radiation. The magnetic data show a circumferential magnetic halo outside the lakeshore, ～12 km in diameter. The central‐north part of the lake reveals a central negative magnetic anomaly with smaller positive side‐anomalies north and south of it, which is typical for magnetized bodies at shallow latitudes. A few weaker negative magnetic anomalies exist in the eastern and western part of the lake. Together with the northern one, they seem to encircle a central uplift. Our model shows that the magnetic anomaly of the structure is presumably produced by one or several relatively strongly remanently magnetized impact‐melt rock or melt‐rich suevite bodies. Petrophysical measurements show a clear difference between the physical properties of preimpact target rocks and impactites. Suevites have a higher magnetization and have low densities and high porosities compared to the target rocks. In suevites, the remanent magnetization dominates over induced magnetization (Koenigsberger ratio > 3). Preliminary palaeomagnetic results reveal that the normally magnetized remanence component in suevites was acquired during the Jaramillo normal polarity epoch. This interpretation is consistent with the modelling results that also require a normal polarity magnetization for the magnetic body beneath the lake. The reverse polarity remanence component, superimposed on the normal component, is probably acquired during subsequent reverse polarity events.     

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.     

Archaeabacterial lipids in drill core samples from the Bosumtwi impact structure,Ghana

Abstract— Meteorite impacts are associated with locally profound effects for microorganisms living at the terrestrial surface and the subsurface of the impact zone. The Bosumtwi crater in Ghana (West Africa) is a relatively young (1.07 Myr) structure with a rim‐to‐rim diameter of about 10.5 km. In a preliminary study targeting the subsurface microbial life in the impact structure, seven samples of the impact breccia from the central uplift of the Bosumtwi crater were analyzed for the presence of typical archaeal membrane‐lipids (GDGTs). These have been detected in four of the samples, at a maximum depth of 382 m below the lake surface, which is equivalent to 309 m below the surface sediment. The concentration of the GDGTs does not show a trend with depth, and their distribution is dominated by GDGT‐0. Possible origins of these lipids could be related to the soils or rocks predating the impact event, the hydrothermal system generated after the impact, or due to more recent underground water     

Cover

The Ritland impact structure (western Norway), 2.7 km in diameter and about 350 m deep, is a depression partly fi lled by post‐impact Cambrian shales (upper photo; courtesy of Knut Vindfallet). The lower left photo shows well‐exposed, fractured Precambrian basement, while the lower right photo illustrates the melt rock with dark inclusions of devitrifi ed melt clasts in a light gray matrix (weathered surface) (coin is about 2.5 cm across). Images courtesy of E. Kalleson and H. Dypvik.     

The Dhala structure,Bundelkhand craton,Central India—Eroded remnant of a large Paleoproterozoic impact structure

Abstract— The newly discovered Dhala structure, Madhya Pradesh State, India, is the eroded remnant of an impact structure with an estimated present‐day apparent diameter of about 11 km. It is located in the northwestern part of the Archean Bundelkhand craton. The pre‐impact country rocks are predominantly granitoids of ?2.5 Ga age, with minor 2.0–2.15 Ga mafic intrusive rocks, and they are overlain by post‐impact sediments of the presumably >1.7 Ga Vindhyan Supergroup. Thus, the age for this impact event is currently bracketed by these two sequences. The Dhala structure is asymmetrically disposed with respect to a central elevated area (CEA) of Vindhyan sediments. The CEA is surrounded by two prominent morphological rings comprising pre‐Vindhyan arenaceous‐argillaceous and partially rudaceous metasediments and monomict granitoid breccia, respectively. There are also scattered outcrops of impact melt breccia exposed towards the inner edge of the monomict breccia zone, occurring over a nearly 6 km long trend and with a maximum outcrop width of ?170 m. Many lithic and mineral clasts within the melt breccia exhibit diagnostic shock metamorphic features, including multiple sets of planar deformation features (PDFs) in quartz and feldspar, ballen‐textured quartz, occurrences of coesite, and feldspar with checkerboard texture. In addition, various thermal alteration textures have been found in clasts of initially superheated impact melt. The impact melt breccia also contains numerous fragments composed of partially devitrified impact melt that is mixed with unshocked as well as shock deformed quartz and feldspar clasts. The chemical compositions of the impact melt rock and the regionally occurring granitoids are similar. The Ir contents of various impact melt breccia samples are close to the detection limit (1–1.5 ppb) and do not provide evidence for the presence of a meteoritic component in the melt breccia. The presence of diagnostic shock features in mineral and lithic clasts in impact melt breccia confirm Dhala as an impact structure. At 11 km, Dhala is the largest impact structure currently known in the region between the Mediterranean and southeast Asia.     

Cloud Creek structure,central Wyoming,USA: Impact origin confirmed

Abstract— The circular Cloud Creek structure in central Wyoming, USA is buried beneath ?1200 m of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks and has a current diameter of ?7 km. The morphology/morphometry of the structure, as defined by borehole, seismic, and gravity data, is similar to that of other buried terrestrial complex impact structures in sedimentary target rocks, e.g., Red Wing Creek in North Dakota, USA. The structure has a fault‐bordered central peak with minimum diameter of ?1.4 km, composed predominantly of Paleozoic carbonates thickened by thrust faulting and brecciation, and is elevated some 520 m above equivalent strata beyond the outer rim of the structure. There is a ?1.6 km wide annular trough sloping away from the central peak (maximum structural relief, 300 m) and terminated by a detached, fault‐bounded, rim anticline. The youngest rocks within the structure are Late Triassic (Norian?) clastics and these are overlain unconformably by post‐impact Middle Jurassic (Bathonian?) sandstones and shales. Thus, the formation of the Cloud Creek structure is dated chronostratigraphicly as ?190 ± 20 Ma. Reported here for the first time are measurements of planar deformation features (PDFs) in shocked quartz grains in thin sections made from drill cuttings recovered in a borehole drilled at the southern perimeter of the central peak. Other, less definitive microstructures consistent with impact occur in samples collected from boreholes drilled into the central peak and rim anticline. The shock‐metamorphic evidence confirms an impact origin for the Cloud Creek structure.     

Gravity and Magnetic Investigations in the Haughton Impact Structure,Devon Island,Canada

Abstract— The results of a new gravity survey show that the Haughton impact structure is associated with a 24 km diameter negative Bouguer gravity anomaly with a maximum amplitude of ?12 mgal. A local minimum with a half-width of 2 km and an amplitude of ?4 mgal is located at the center of the structure. A positive magnetic total field anomaly with a half-width of 0.6 km and an amplitude of 700 nT coincides with the local central gravity anomaly. The overall negative gravity anomaly is explained by lowered rock densities due to impact-related fracturing in the crater area. The central gravity and magnetic anomalies are believed to be due to highly shocked and heated sedimentary and crystalline basement rocks forming the unexposed peak of the central uplift in the Haughton impact structure.     

The Obolon impact structure,Ukraine, and its ejecta deposits

Abstract— The Obolon impact structure, 18 km in diameter, is situated at the northeastern slope of the Ukrainian Shield near its margin with the Dnieper‐Donets Depression. The crater was formed in crystalline rocks of the Precambrian basement that are overlain by marine Carboniferous and continental Lower Triassic deposits. The post‐impact sediments comprise marine Middle Jurassic (Bajocian and Bathonian) and younger Mesozoic and Cenozoic deposits. Today the impact structure is buried beneath an about 300‐meter‐thick sedimentary rock sequence. Most information on the Obolon structure is derived from two boreholes in the western part of the crater. The lowest part of the section in the deepest borehole is composed by allogenic breccia of crystalline basement rocks overlain by clast‐rich impact melt rocks and suevites. Abundant shock metamorphic effects are planar deformation features (PDFs) in quartz and feldspars, kink bands in biotite, etc. Coesite and impact diamonds were found in clast‐rich impact melt rocks. Crater‐fill deposits are a series of sandstones and breccias with blocks of sedimentary rocks that are covered by a layer of crystalline rock breccia. Crystalline rock breccias, conglomeratic breccias, and sandstones with crystalline rock debris have been found in some boreholes around the Obolon impact structure to a distance of about 50 km from its center. Those deposits are always underlain by Lower Triassic continental red clay and overlain by Middle Jurassic marine clay. The K‐Ar age of impact melt glasses is 169 Ma, which corresponds to the Middle Jurassic (Bajocian) age. The composition of crater‐fill rocks within the crater and sediments outside the Obolon structure testify to its formation under submarine conditions.     

The Ritland impact structure,southwestern Norway

Abstract– The Ritland structure is a newly discovered impact structure, which is located in southwestern Norway. The structure is the remnant of a simple crater 2.5 km in diameter and 350 m deep, which was excavated in Precambrian gneissic rocks. The crater was filled by sediments in Cambrian times and covered by thrust nappes of the Caledonian orogen in the Silurian–Devonian. Several succeeding events of uplift, erosion, and finally the Pleistocene glaciations, disclosed this well‐preserved structure. The erosion has exposed brecciated rocks of the original crater floor overlain by a thin layer of melt‐bearing rocks and postimpact crater‐filling breccias, sandstones, and shales. Quartz grains with planar deformation features occur frequently within the melt‐bearing unit, confirming the impact origin of the structure. The good exposures of infilling sediments have allowed a detailed reconstruction of the original crater morphology and its infilling history based on geological field mapping.     

The Foelsche structure,Northern Territory,Australia: An impact crater of probable Neoproterozoic age

Abstract— The Foelsche structure is situated in the McArthur Basin of northern Australia (16°40′ S, 136°47′ E). It comprises a roughly circular outcrop of flat‐lying Neoproterozoic Bukalara Sandstone, overlying and partly rimmed by tangentially striking, discontinuous outcrops of dipping, fractured and brecciated Mesoproterozoic Limmen Sandstone. The outcrop expression coincides with a prominent circular aeromagnetic anomaly, which can be explained in terms of the local disruption and removal or displacement of a regional mafic igneous layer within a circular area at depth. Samples of red, lithic, pebbly sandstone from the stratigraphically lowest exposed levels of the Bukalara Sandstone within the Foelsche structure contain detrital quartz grains displaying mosaicism, planar fractures (PFs) and planar deformation features (PDFs). PFs and PDFs occur in multiple intersecting sets with orientations consistent with a shock metamorphic origin. The abundance and angular nature of the shocked grains indicates a nearby provenance. Surface expression and geophysical data are consistent with a partly buried complex impact crater of ?6 km in diameter with an obscured central uplift ?2 km in diameter. The deformed outcrops of Limmen Sandstone are interpreted as relics of the original crater rim, but the central region of the crater, from which the shocked grains were likely derived, remains buried. From the best available age constraints the Foelsche structure is most likely of Neoproterozoic age.     

3D gravimetric investigation of the Cerro do Jarau structure,Rio Grande do Sul,Brazil

The Cerro do Jarau structure is possibly the third Brazilian basaltic crater formed in continental flood basalt of the Serra Geral Formation, Paraná Basin, a large igneous province (LIP) in southern Brazil. It is a nearly circular landform with a diameter of approximately 13 km that rises 200 m above the plains of the “pampas” in southern Brazil. In this work, Bouguer anomalies were calculated from gravity accelerations measured on the area of this structure. The residual Bouguer map shows a strong positive anomaly trending NE‐SW, located in the northeastern part of the structure, a feature not commonly associated with impact structures. However, the negative anomaly present in its center and the circular positive anomaly surrounding the central portion are typical of impact structures. The residual Bouguer anomaly varies from ?2 mGal to 8 mGal. The positive circular anomaly is not spatially coincident with the rim of the structure. Based on the interpretation of our gravimetric data, the estimated diameter of the structure is 12 km and the central portion has a diameter of approximately 5 km, both slightly smaller than previously suggested. The Bouguer anomaly map was inverted into a 3D density model using a constrained inversion method with a maximum density contrast of 0.5 g cm^?3. This model was interpreted to associate densities with rock types, resulting in a geological model. This geological model is in accordance with the meteorite impact nature of Cerro do Jarau.     

Characterization and morphological reconstruction of the Terny impact structure,central Ukraine

The Terny impact structure, located in central Ukraine, displays a variety of diagnostic indicators of shock metamorphism, including shatter cones, planar deformation features in quartz, diaplectic glass, selective melting of minerals, and whole rock melting. The structure has been modified by erosion and subsequently buried by recent sediments. Although there are no natural outcrops of the deformed basement rocks within the area, mining exploration has provided surface and subsurface access to the structure, exposing impact melt rocks, shocked parautochthonous target rocks, and allochthonous impact breccias, including impact melt‐bearing breccias similar to suevites observed at the Ries structure. We have collected and studied samples from surface and subsurface exposures to a depth of approximately 750 m below the surface. This analysis indicates the Terny crater is centered on geographic coordinates 48.13° N, 33.52° E. The center location and the distribution of shock pressures constrain the transient crater diameter to be no less than approximately 8.4 km. Using widely accepted morphometric scaling relations, we estimate the pre‐erosional rim diameter of Terny crater to be approximately 16–19 km, making it close in original size to the well‐preserved El'gygytgyn crater in Siberia. Comparison with El'gygytgyn yields useful insights into the original morphology of the Terny crater and indicates that the amount of erosion Terny experienced prior to burial probably does not exceed 320 m.     

Petrography,geochemistry, and argon‐40/argon‐39 ages of impact‐melt rocks and breccias from the Ames impact structure,Oklahoma: The Nicor Chestnut 18‐4 drill core

Abstract— The 15 km diameter Ames structure in northwestern Oklahoma is located 2.75 km below surface in Cambro‐Ordovician Arbuckle dolomite, which is overlain by Middle Ordovician Oil Creek Formation shale. The feature is marked by two concentric ring structures, with the inner ring of about 5 km diameter probably representing the collapsed remnant of a structural uplift composed of brecciated Precambrian granite and Arbuckle dolomite. Wells from both the crater rim and the central uplift are oil‐ and gas‐producing, making Ames one of the economically important impact structures. Petrographic, geochemical, and age data were obtained on samples from the Nicor Chestnut 18‐4 drill core, off the northwest flank of the central uplift. These samples represent the largest and best examples of impact‐melt breccia obtained so far from the Ames structure. They contain carbonate rocks, which are derived from the target sequence. The chemical composition of the impact‐melt breccias is similar to that of target granite, with variable carbonate admixture. Some impact‐melt rocks are enriched in siderophile elements indicating the possible presence of a meteoritic component. Based on stratigraphic arguments, the age of the crater was estimated at 470 Ma. Previous ⁴⁰Ar‐³⁹Ar dating attempts of impact‐melt breccias from the Dorothy 1–19 core yielded plateau ages of about 285 Ma, which is in conflict with the stratigraphic age. The new ⁴⁰Ar‐³⁹Ar age data obtained on the melt breccias from the Nicor Chestnut core by ultraviolet (UV) laser spot analysis resulted in a range of ages with maxima around 300 Ma. These data could reflect processes related either the regional Nemaha Uplift or resetting due to hot brines active on a midcontinent‐wide scale, perhaps related to the Alleghenian and Ouachita orogenies. The age data indicate an extended burial phase associated with thermal overprint during Late Pennsylvanian‐Permian.     

Characterization and significance of shocked quartz from the Woodleigh mpact structure,Western Australia

Abstract— We re‐examined the buried Woodleigh structure in Western Australia, which has been inferred to be a multi‐ringed, 120 km diameter impact crater, because the proposed size and possible synchronicity with one of the pre‐Mesozoic mass extinction events has attracted controversy. We undertook a detailed study of the petrology and mineralogy of a number of samples of core from the Woodleigh‐1 borehole that was drilled into the central uplift of the structure. Crystalline Proterozoic basement rocks comprising granites and gneisses in the Woodleigh‐1 core contain minor brecciation in discrete veins and reveal clear evidence of shock metamorphism over the full extent of the core. Imaging of laboratory‐etched quartz showed that a large number of grains contain shock deformation lamellae. Microstructural and crystallographic analysis of these lamellae by TEM showed that they are planar deformation features (PDFs) that have subsequently undergone annealing and water assisted recrystallization. The available geological, petrographic, and mineralogical evidence suggest that Woodleigh is an eroded impact crater that is nearer to 60 km than 120 km in diameter. Future drilling projects should better constrain the level of erosion, and may reveal any preserved impact lithologies.     

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.     

Geophysical signature of the Tunnunik impact structure,Northwest Territories,Canada

In 2011, the discovery of shatter cones confirmed the 28 km diameter Tunnunik complex impact structure, Northwest Territories, Canada. This study presents the first results of ground‐based electromagnetic, gravimetric, and magnetic surveys over this impact structure. Its central area is characterized by a ~10 km wide negative gravity anomaly of about 3 mGal amplitude, roughly corresponding to the area of shatter cones, and associated with a positive magnetic field anomaly of ~120 nT amplitude and 3 km wavelength. The latter correlates well with the location of the deepest uplifted strata, an impact‐tilted Proterozoic dolomite layer of the Shaler Supergroup exposed near the center of the structure and intruded by dolerite dykes. Locally, electromagnetic field data unveil a conductive superficial formation which corresponds to an 80–100 m thick sand layer covering the impact structure. Based on the measurements of magnetic properties of rock samples, we model the source of the magnetic anomaly as the magnetic sediments of the Shaler Supergroup combined with a core of uplifted crystalline basement with enhanced magnetization. More classically, the low gravity signature is attributed to a reduction in density measured on the brecciated target rocks and to the isolated sand formations. However, the present‐day fractured zone does not extend deeper than ~1 km in our model, indicating a possible 1.5 km of erosion since the time of impact, about 430 Ma ago.     

Jeptha Knob,Kentucky, a probable meteorite impact structure

Jeptha Knob is a deformed structure, 4.5 km in diameter, composed entirely of carbonate rocks in the stable craton of North America. At Jeptha Knob, conventional evidence of meteorite impact, shock metamorphism, has not been found. I used calcite twin analysis to test the hypothesis that Jeptha Knob is a meteorite impact crater. Calcite twinning gives differential stresses of >170 MPa in rocks that were 600 to ≈800 m below the surface when the rocks were deformed. Under these conditions, high differential stresses cannot be explained by tectonic processes. In addition, twin intensities are >150 twins/mm which are >50% higher than the highest twin intensities observed in limestone from a wide variety of tectonic settings. Twin intensities and differential stresses are the same magnitudes as those found at Serpent Mound, a proven impact structure. Consistent with meteorite impact, differential stresses increase toward the center of the structure. If one accepts that Jeptha Knob is a marine impact crater, then (1) the presence of high temperature (>250°C) thick twins in calcite from a resurge deposit; (2) the extensive dolomitization of the central uplift with water/rock ratios >1.0; and (3) two episodes of calcite twin recorded incremental strains, are explained.