Tsunami generation and propagation from the Mjølnir asteroid impact

Abstract— In the late Jurassic period, about 142 million years ago, an asteroid hit the shallow paleo‐Barents Sea, north of present‐day Norway. The geological structure resulting from the impact is today known as the Mjølnir crater. The present work attempts to model the generation and the propagation of the tsunami from the Mjølnir impact. A multi‐material hydrocode SOVA is used to model the impact and the early stages of tsunami generation, while models based on shallow‐water theories are used to study the subsequent wave propagation in the paleo‐Barents Sea. We apply several wave models of varying computational complexity. This includes both three‐dimensional and radially symmetric weakly dispersive and nonlinear Boussinesq equations, as well as equations based on nonlinear ray theory. These tsunami models require a reconstruction of the bathymetry of the paleo‐Barents Sea. The Mjølnir tsunami is characteristic of large bolides impacting in shallow sea; in this case the asteroid was about 1.6 km in diameter and the water depth was around 400 m. Contrary to earthquake‐ and slide‐generated tsunamis, this tsunami featured crucial dispersive and nonlinear effects: a few minutes after the impact, the ocean surface was formed into an undular bore, which developed further into a train of solitary waves. Our simulations indicate wave amplitudes above 200 m, and during shoaling the waves break far from the coastlines in rather deep water. The tsunami induced strong bottom currents, in the range of 30–90 km/h, which presumably caused a strong reworking of bottom sediments with dramatic consequences for the marine environment.     

SMART‐1 end of life shallow regolith impact simulations

The SMART‐1 end‐of‐life impact with the lunar surface was simulated with impacts in a two stage light‐gas gun onto inclined basalt targets with a shallow surface layer of sand. This simulated the probable impact site, where a loose regolith will have overlaid a well consolidated basaltic layer of rock. The impact angles used were at 5° and 10° from the horizontal. The impact speed was ~2 km s^?1 and the projectiles were 2.03 mm diameter aluminum spheres. The sand depth was between approximately 0.8 and 1.8 times the projectile diameter, implying a loose lunar surface regolith of similar dimensions to the SMART‐1 spacecraft. A crater in the basement rock itself was only observed in the impact at 10° incidence, and where the depth of loose surface material was less than the projectile diameter, in which case the basement rock also contained a small pit‐like crater. In all cases, the projectile ricocheted away from the impact site at a shallow angle. This implies that at the SMART‐1 impact site the crater will have a complicated structure, with exposed basement rock and some excavated rock displaced nearby, and the main spacecraft body itself will not be present at the main crater.     

Laboratory investigations of marine impact events: Factors influencing crater formation and projectile survivability

Abstract— Given that the Earth's surface is covered in around two‐thirds water, the majority of impact events should have occurred in marine environments. However, with the presence of a water layer, crater formation may be prohibited. Indeed, formation is greatly controlled by the water depth to projectile diameter ratio, as discussed in this paper. Previous work has shown that the underlying target material also influences crater formation (e.g., Gault and Sonett 1982; Baldwin et al. 2007). In addition to the above parameters we also show the influence of impact angle, impact velocity and projectile density for a variety of water depths on crater formation and projectile survivability. The limiting ratio of water depth to projectile diameter on cratering represents the point at which the projectile is significantly slowed by transit through the water layer to reduce the impact energy to that which prohibits cratering. We therefore study the velocity decay produced by a water layer using laboratory, analytical and numerical modelling techniques, and determine the peak pressures endured by the projectile. For an impact into a water depth five times the projectile diameter, the velocity of the projectile is found to be reduced to 26–32% its original value. For deep water impacts we find that up to 60% of the original mass of the projectile survives in an oblique impact, where survivability is defined as the solid or melted mass fraction of the projectile that could be collected after impact.     

Cratering and modification of wet‐target craters: Projectile impact experiments and field observations of the Lockne marine‐target crater (Sweden)

Abstract— Marine impacts are one category of crater formation in volatile targets. At target water depths exceeding the diameter of the impactor, the zones of vaporization, melting, and excavation of the standard land‐target cratering model develop partially or entirely in the water column. The part of the crater that has a potential of being preserved (seafloor crater) may to a great extent be formed by material emplacement and excavation processes that are very different from land‐target craters. These processes include a high‐energy, water‐jet‐driven excavation flow. At greater water depths, the difference in strength of the target layers causes a concentric crater to evolve. The crater consists of a wide water cavity with a shallow excavation flow along the seabed surrounding a nested, deeper crater in the basement. The modification of the crater is likewise influenced by the water through its forceful resurge to fill the cavity in the water mass and the seafloor. The resurge flow is strongly erosive and incorporates both ejecta and rip‐up material from the seabed surrounding the excavated crater. A combination of field observations and impact experiments has helped us analyze the processes affecting the zone between the basement crater and the maximum extent of the water cavity. The resurge erosion is facilitated by fragmentation of the upper parts of the solid target caused by a) spallation and b) vibrations from the shallow excavation flow and, subsequently, c) the vertical collapse of the water cavity rim wall. In addition, poorly consolidated and saturated sediments may collapse extensively, possibly aided by a violent expansion of the pore water volume when it turns into a spray during passage of the rarefaction wave. This process may also occur at impacts into water‐saturated targets without an upper layer of seawater present. Our results have implications for impacts on both Earth and Mars, and possibly anywhere in the solar system where volatiles exist/have existed in the upper part of the target.     

Hypervelocity impacts into ice‐topped layered targets: Investigating the effects of ice crust thickness and subsurface density on crater morphology

Many bodies in the outer solar system are theorized to have an ice shell with a different subsurface material below, be it chondritic, regolith, or a subsurface ocean. This layering can have a significant influence on the morphology of impact craters. Accordingly, we have undertaken laboratory hypervelocity impact experiments on a range of multilayered targets, with interiors of water, sand, and basalt. Impact experiments were undertaken using impact speeds in the range of 0.8–5.3 km s^?1, a 1.5 mm Al ball bearing projectile, and an impact incidence of 45°. The surface ice crust had a thickness between 5 and 50 mm, i.e., some 3–30 times the projectile diameter. The thickness of the ice crust as well as the nature of the subsurface layer (liquid, well consolidated, etc.) have a marked effect on the morphology of the resulting impact crater, with thicker ice producing a larger crater diameter (at a given impact velocity), and the crater diameter scaling with impact speed to the power 0.72 for semi‐infinite ice, but with 0.37 for thin ice. The density of the subsurface material changes the structure of the crater, with flat crater floors if there is a dense, well‐consolidated subsurface layer (basalt) or steep, narrow craters if there is a less cohesive subsurface (sand). The associated faulting in the ice surface is also dependent on ice thickness and the substrate material. We find that the ice layer (in impacts at 5 km s^?1) is effectively semi‐infinite if its thickness is more than 15.5 times the projectile diameter. Below this, the crater diameter is reduced by 4% for each reduction in ice layer thickness equal to the impactor diameter. Crater depth is also affected. In the ice thickness region, 7–15.5 times the projectile diameter, the crater shape in the ice is modified even when the subsurface layer is not penetrated. For ice thicknesses, <7 times the projectile diameter, the ice layer is breached, but the nature of the resulting crater depends heavily on the subsurface material. If the subsurface is noncohesive (loose) material, a crater forms in it. If it is dense, well‐consolidated basalt, no crater forms in the exposed subsurface layer.     

Propagation of impact‐induced shock waves in porous sandstone using mesoscale modeling

Generation and propagation of shock waves by meteorite impact is significantly affected by material properties such as porosity, water content, and strength. The objective of this work was to quantify processes related to the shock‐induced compaction of pore space by numerical modeling, and compare the results with data obtained in the framework of the Multidisciplinary Experimental and Modeling Impact Research Network (MEMIN) impact experiments. We use mesoscale models resolving the collapse of individual pores to validate macroscopic (homogenized) approaches describing the bulk behavior of porous and water‐saturated materials in large‐scale models of crater formation, and to quantify localized shock amplification as a result of pore space crushing. We carried out a suite of numerical models of planar shock wave propagation through a well‐defined area (the “sample”) of porous and/or water‐saturated material. The porous sample is either represented by a homogeneous unit where porosity is treated as a state variable (macroscale model) and water content by an equation of state for mixed material (ANEOS) or by a defined number of individually resolved pores (mesoscale model). We varied porosity and water content and measured thermodynamic parameters such as shock wave velocity and particle velocity on meso‐ and macroscales in separate simulations. The mesoscale models provide additional data on the heterogeneous distribution of peak shock pressures as a consequence of the complex superposition of reflecting rarefaction waves and shock waves originating from the crushing of pores. We quantify the bulk effect of porosity, the reduction in shock pressure, in terms of Hugoniot data as a function of porosity, water content, and strength of a quartzite matrix. We find a good agreement between meso‐, macroscale models and Hugoniot data from shock experiments. We also propose a combination of a porosity compaction model (ε–α model) that was previously only used for porous materials and the ANEOS for water‐saturated quartzite (all pore space is filled with water) to describe the behavior of partially water‐saturated material during shock compression. Localized amplification of shock pressures results from pore collapse and can reach as much as four times the average shock pressure in the porous sample. This may explain the often observed localized high shock pressure phases next to more or less unshocked grains in impactites and meteorites.     

Chesapeake Bay impact structure: Morphology,crater fill,and relevance for impact structures on Mars

Abstract— The late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure (CBIS) on the Atlantic margin of Virginia is one of the largest and best‐preserved “wet‐target” craters on Earth. It provides an accessible analog for studying impact processes in layered and wet targets on volatile‐rich planets. The CBIS formed in a layered target of water, weak clastic sediments, and hard crystalline rock. The buried structure consists of a deep, filled central crater, 38 km in width, surrounded by a shallower brim known as the annular trough. The annular trough formed partly by collapse of weak sediments, which expanded the structure to ?85 km in diameter. Such extensive collapse, in addition to excavation processes, can explain the “inverted sombrero” morphology observed at some craters in layered targets. The distribution of crater‐fill materials in the CBIS is related to the morphology. Suevitic breccia, including pre‐resurge fallback deposits, is found in the central crater. Impact‐modified sediments, formed by fluidization and collapse of water‐saturated sand and silt‐clay, occur in the annular trough. Allogenic sediment‐clast breccia, interpreted as ocean‐resurge deposits, overlies the other impactites and covers the entire crater beneath a blanket of postimpact sediments. The formation of chaotic terrains on Mars is attributed to collapse due to the release of volatiles from thick layered deposits. Some flat‐floored rimless depressions with chaotic infill in these terrains are impact craters that expanded by collapse farther than expected for similar‐sized complex craters in solid targets. Studies of crater materials in the CBIS provide insights into processes of crater expansion on Mars and their links to volatiles.     

Constraints on interpretation of the Eltanin impact from numerical simulations

The results of numerical simulations of the Eltanin impact are combined with the available geological data in order to reconstruct the impact dynamics and to get some constraints on the impact parameters. Numerical simulations show that the Eltanin projectile size should be less than 2 km for a 45° oblique impact and less than 1.5 km for a vertical impact. On the other hand, we demonstrate that the projectile diameter cannot be considerably smaller than 1 km; otherwise, the impact‐induced water flow cannot transport eroded sediments across large distances. The maximum displacement approximately equals the water crater radius and rapidly decreases with increasing distances. Numerical simulations also show that ejecta deposits strongly depend on impact angle and projectile size and, therefore, cannot be used for reliable estimates of the initial projectile mass. The initial amplitudes of tsunami‐like waves are estimated. The presence of clay‐rich sediments, typical for the abyssal basins in cores PS2709 and PS2708 on the Freeden Seamounts (Bellingshausen Sea, Southern Ocean) combined with numerical data allow us to suggest a probable point of impact to the east of the seamounts. The results do not exclude the possibility that a crater in the ocean bottom may exist, but such a structure has not been found yet.     

Impacts into oceans and seas

Impacts of cosmic bodies into oceans and seas lead to the formation of very high waves. Numerical simulations of 3-km and 1-km comets impacting into a 4 km depth ocean with a velocity of 20 km/sec have been conducted. For a 1-km body, depth of the interim crater in the sea bed is about 8 km below ocean level, and the height of the water wave is 10 m at a distance of 2000 km from the impact point. As the water wave runs into shallows, a huge tsunami hits the coast. The height of the wave strongly depends on the coastal and sea bed topography.If the impact occurred near the shore, the huge mass of water strikes the cliffs and the near shore mountain ridges and can cause displacement of the rocks, initiate landslides, and change the relief. Thus, impact into oceans and seas is an important geological factor.Cosmic bodies of small sizes are disrupted by aerodynamic forces. Fragments of a 100-m radius comet striking the water surface create an unstable cavity in the water of about 1 km radius. Its collapse also creates tsunami.A simple estimate has been made using the light curves from recent atmosphere explosions detected by satellites. The results of our assessment of the characteristics of meteoroids which caused these intense light flashes suggests that fragments of a 25-m stony body with initial impact velocity 15 to 20 km/sec will hit the surface. For a 75-m iron body striking the sea with a depth of 600 m, the height of the wave is 10 m at 200–300 km distance from the impact.     

Modeling the 2.7?km in Diameter, Shallow Marine Ritland Impact Structure

The newly discovered Ritland impact structure (2.7?km in diameter) has been modeled by numerical simulation, based on detailed field information input. The numerical model applies the SOVA multi-material hydrocode, which uses the ANEOS equation of state for granite, describing thermodynamical properties of target and projectile material. The model displays crater formation and possible ejecta distribution that strongly supports a 100?m or less water depth at the time of impact. According to the simulations resurge processes and basinal syn- and postimpact sedimentation are highly dependent on water depth; in more than 100?m of water depth, much more powerful resurge processes are generated than at water depths shallower than 100?m (the Ritland case). In Ritland the 100?m high (modeled) crater rim formed a barrier and severely reduced the resurge processes. In the case of deeper water, powerful resurge processes, tsunami wave generations and related currents could have triggered even more violent crater fill sedimentation. The presented model demonstrates the importance of understanding the interactions between water layer and both syn-impact crater fill and ejecta distribution. According to the presented simulations ejecta blocks up to 10?m in diameter could be transported up to about 5?km outside the crater rim.     

The effect of the oceans on the terrestrial crater size‐frequency distribution: Insight from numerical modeling

Abstract— On Earth, oceanic impacts are twice as likely to occur as continental impacts, yet the effect of the oceans has not been previously considered when estimating the terrestrial crater size‐frequency distribution. Despite recent progress in understanding the qualitative and quantitative effect of a water layer on the impact process through novel laboratory experiments, detailed numerical modeling, and interpretation of geological and geophysical data, no definitive relationship between impactor properties, water depth, and final crater diameter exists. In this paper, we determine the relationship between final (and transient) crater diameter and the ratio of water depth to impactor diameter using the results of numerical impact models. This relationship applies for normal incidence impacts of stoney asteroids into water‐covered, crystalline oceanic crust at a velocity of 15 km s^?1. We use these relationships to construct the first estimates of terrestrial crater size‐frequency distributions (over the last 100 million years) that take into account the depth‐area distribution of oceans on Earth. We find that the oceans reduce the number of craters smaller than 1 km in diameter by about two‐thirds, the number of craters ?30 km in diameter by about one‐third, and that for craters larger than ?100 km in diameter, the oceans have little effect. Above a diameter of ?12 km, more craters occur on the ocean floor than on land; below this diameter more craters form on land than in the oceans. We also estimate that there have been in the region of 150 impact events in the last 100 million years that formed an impact‐related resurge feature, or disturbance on the seafloor, instead of a crater.     

Impacts into oceans and seas

Impacts of cosmic bodies into oceans and seas lead to the formation of very high waves. Numerical simulations of 3-km and 1-km comets impacting into a 4 km depth ocean with a velocity of 20 km/sec have been conducted. For a 1-km body, depth of the interim crater in the sea bed is about 8 km below ocean level, and the height of the water wave is 10 m at a distance of 2000 km from the impact point. As the water wave runs into shallows, a huge tsunami hits the coast. The height of the wave strongly depends on the coastal and sea bed topography. If the impact occurred near the shore, the huge mass of water strikes the cliffs and the near shore mountain ridges and can cause displacement of the rocks, initiate landslides, and change the relief. Thus, impact into oceans and seas is an important geological factor. Cosmic bodies of small sizes are disrupted by aerodynamic forces. Fragments of a 100-m radius comet striking the water surface create an unstable cavity in the water of about 1 km radius. Its collapse also creates tsunami. A simple estimate has been made using the light curves from recent atmosphere explosions detected by satellites. The results of our assessment of the characteristics of meteoroids which caused these intense light flashes suggests that fragments of a 25-m stony body with initial impact velocity 15 to 20 km/sec will hit the surface. For a 75-m iron body striking the sea with a depth of 600 m, the height of the wave is 10 m at 200–300 km distance from the impact.     

Time-resolved studies of hypervelocity vertical impacts into porous particulate targets: Effects of projectile density on early-time coupling and crater growth

The depth and duration of energy and momentum coupling in an impact shapes the formation of the crater. The earliest stages of crater growth (when the projectile transfers its energy and momentum to the target) are unrecoverable when the event is described by late stage parameters, which collapse the initial conditions of the impact into a singular point in time and space. During the coupling phase, the details of the impact are mapped into the ejecta flow field. In this experimental study, we present new experimental and computational measurements of the ejecta distribution and crater growth extending from early times into main-stage ballistic flow for hypervelocity impacts over a range of projectile densities. Specifically, we assess the effect of projectile density on coupling depth and location in porous particulate (sand) targets. A non-invasive high-speed imaging technique is employed to capture the velocity of individual ejecta particles very early in the cratering event as a function of both time and launch position. These data reveal that the effects of early-stage coupling, such as non-constant ejection angles, manifest not only in early-time behavior but also extend to main-stage crater growth. Time-resolved comparisons with hydrocode calculations provide both benchmarking and insight into the parameters controlling the ejection process. Measurements of the launch position and metrics for the transient diameter to depth ratio as a function of time demonstrate non-proportional crater growth throughout much of excavation. Low-density projectiles couple closer to the surface, thereby leading to lower ejection angles and larger effective diameter to depth ratios. These results have implications for the ballistic emplacement of ejecta on planetary surfaces, and are essential to interpreting temporally resolved data from impact missions.     

Pluto—The ninth planet's golden year: A meeting held at New Mexico State University,Las Cruces,New Mexico

The simple-to-complex transition for impact craters on Mars occurs at diameters between about 3 and 8 km. Ballistically emplaced ejecta surround primarily those craters that have a simple interior morphology, whereas ejecta displaying features attributable to fluid flow are mostly restricted to complex craters. Size-dependent characteristics of 73 relatively fresh Martian craters, emphasizing the new depth/diameter (d/D) data of D. W. G. Arthur (1980, to be submitted for publication), test two hypotheses for the mode of formation of central peaks in complex craters. In particular, five features appear sequentially with increasing crater size: first flat floors (3–4 km), then central peaks and shallower depths (4–5 km), next scalloped rims (? km), and lastly terraced walls (～8 km). This relative order indicates that a shallow depth of excavation and an unspecified rebound mechanism, not centripetal collapse and deep sliding, have produced central peaks and in turn have facilitated failure of the rim. The mechanism of formation of a shallow crater remains elusive, but probably operates only at the excavation stage of impact. This interpretation is consistent with two separate and complementary lines of evidence. First, field data have documented only shallow subsurface deformation and a shallow transient cavity in complex terrestrial meteorite craters and in certain surface-burst explosion craters; thus the shallow transient cavities of complex craters never were geometrically similar to the deep cavities of simple craters. Second, the average depths of complex craters and the diameters marking the transition from simple to complex craters on Mars and on three other terrestrial planets vary inversely with gravitational acceleration at the planetary surface, g, a variable more important in the excavation of a crater than in any subsequent modification of its geometry. The new interpretation is summarized diagrammatically for complex craters on all planets.     

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.     

Morphology of craters generated by hypervelocity impacts of micron‐sized polypyrrole‐coated olivine particles

To understand the process of cosmic dust particle impacts and translate crater morphology on smoothed metallic surfaces to dust properties, correct calibration of the experimental impact data is needed. This article presents the results of studies of crater morphology generated by impacts using micron‐sized polypyrrole (PPy)‐coated olivine particles. The particles were accelerated by an electrostatic dust accelerator to high speeds before they impacted onto polished aluminum targets. The projectile diameter and velocity ranges were 0.3–1.2 μm and 3–7 km s^?1. After impact, stereopair images of the craters were taken using scanning electron microscope and 3‐D reconstructions made to provide diameter and depth measurements. In this study, not just the dimensions of crater diameters and depths, but also the shape and dimensions of crater lips were analyzed. The craters created by the coated olivine projectiles are shown to have complicated shapes believed to be due to the nonspherical shape of the projectiles.     

The clay mineralogy of sediments related to the marine Mjølnir impact crater

Abstract— The 40 km diameter Mjølnir Crater is located on the central Barents Sea shelf, north of Norway. It was formed about 142 ± 2.6 Myr ago by the impact of a 1–2 km asteroid into the shallow shelf clays of the Hekkingen Formation and the underlying Triassic to Jurassic sedimentary strata. A core recovered from the central high within the crater contains slump and avalanche deposits from the collapse of the transient crater and central high. These beds are overlain by gravity flow conglomerates, with laminated shales and marls on top. Here, impact and post‐impact deposits in this core are studied with focus on clay mineralogy obtained from XRD decomposition and simulation analysis methods. The clay‐sized fractions are dominated by kaolinite, illite, mixed‐layered clay minerals and quartz. Detailed analyses showed rather similar composition throughout the core, but some noticeable differences were detected, including varying crystal size of kaolinite and different types of illites and illite/smectite. These minerals may have been formed by diagenetic changes in the more porous/fractured beds in the crater compared to time‐equivalent beds outside the crater rim. Long‐term post‐impact changes in clay mineralogy are assumed to have been minor, due to the shallow burial depth and minor thermal influence from impact‐heated target rocks. Instead, the clay mineral assemblages, especially the abundance of chlorite, reflect the impact and post‐impact reworking of older material. Previously, an ejecta layer (the Sindre Bed) was recognized in a nearby well outside the crater, represented by an increase in smectite‐rich clay minerals, genetically equivalent to the smectite occurring in proximal ejecta deposits of the Chicxulub crater. Such alteration products from impact glasses were not detected in this study, indicating that little, if any, impact glass was deposited within the upper part of the crater fill. Crater‐fill deposits inherited their mineral composition from Triassic and Jurassic sediments underlying the impact site.     

Role of water in the formation of the Late Cretaceous Wetumpka impact structure,inner Gulf Coastal Plain of Alabama,USA

Abstract— The effect of shallow marine water (?30–100 m deep) in the late excavation and early modification stages of a marine‐target crater 5 km in diameter, as exemplified by the Late Cretaceous Wetumpka impact structure in Alabama, USA, is manifest in the early collapse of a weak part of the rim. Excavation flow and connate marine water are interpreted to be factors in this collapse. This partial rim collapse catastrophically emplaced an upper‐structure‐filling unit of broken and redistributed sedimentary target formations, which presently mantles the deeper fallback breccia deposits within the structure. Furthermore, rim collapse flow facilitated the formation of a structurally modified, extrastructure terrain, which is located outside and adjacent to the collapsed rim segment. This extrastructure terrain appears to be the product of extensive slumping of poorly consolidated target sedimentary formations.     

The Canyon Diablo impact event: 2. Projectile fate and target melting upon impact

Abstract– Despite its centennial exploration history, there are still unresolved questions about Meteor Crater, the first recognized impact crater on Earth. This theoretical study addresses some of these questions by comparing model results with field and laboratory studies of Meteor Crater. Our results indicate that Meteor Crater was formed by a high‐velocity impact of a fragmented projectile, ruling out a highly dispersed swarm as well as a very low impact velocity. Projectile fragmentation caused many fragments to fall separately from the main body of the impactor, making up the bulk of the Canyon Diablo meteorites; most of these fragments were engulfed in the expansion plume as they approached the surface without suffering high shock compression, and were redistributed randomly around the crater. Thus, the distribution of Canyon Diablo meteorites is not representative of projectile trajectory, as is usual for impactor fragments in smaller strewn fields. At least 50% of the main impactor was ejected from the crater during crater excavation and was dispersed mostly downrange of the crater as molten particles (spheroids) and highly shocked solid fragments (shrapnel). When compared with the known distribution, model results suggest an impactor from the SW. Overall, every model case produced much higher amounts of pure projectile material than observed. The projectile‐target mixing was not considered in the models; however, this process could be the main sink of projectile melt, as all analyzed melt particles have high concentrations of projectile material. The fate of the solid projectile fragments is still not completely resolved. Model results suggest that the depth of melting in the target can reach the Coconino sandstone formation. However, most of the ejected melt originates from 30–40 m depth and, thus, is limited to Moenkopi and upper Kaibab material. Some melt remains in the target; based on the estimated volume of the breccia lens at Meteor Crater, our models suggest at most a 2% content of melt in the breccia. Finally, a high water table at the time of impact could have aided strong dispersion of target and projectile melt.     

Origin and emplacement of the impact formations at Chicxulub,Mexico, as revealed by the ICDP deep drilling at Yaxcopoil‐1 and by numerical modeling

We present and interpret results of petrographic, mineralogical, and chemical analyses of the 1511 m deep ICDP Yaxcopoil‐1 (Yax‐1) drill core, with special emphasis on the impactite units. Using numerical model calculations of the formation, excavation, and dynamic modification of the Chicxulub crater, constrained by laboratory data, a model of the origin and emplacement of the impact formations of Yax‐1 and of the impact structure as a whole is derived. The lower part of Yax‐1 is formed by displaced Cretaceous target rocks (610 m thick), while the upper part comprises six suevite‐type allochthonous breccia units (100 m thick). From the texture and composition of these lithological units and from numerical model calculations, we were able to link the seven distinct impact‐induced units of Yax‐1 to the corresponding successive phases of the crater formation and modification, which are as follows: 1) transient cavity formation including displacement and deposition of Cretaceous “megablocks;” 2) ground surging and mixing of impact melt and lithic clasts at the base of the ejecta curtain and deposition of the lower suevite right after the formation of the transient cavity; 3) deposition of a thin veneer of melt on top of the lower suevite and lateral transport and brecciation of this melt toward the end of the collapse of the transient cavity (brecciated impact melt rock); 4) collapse of the ejecta plume and deposition of fall‐back material from the lower part of the ejecta plume to form the middle suevite near the end of the dynamic crater modification; 5) continued collapse of the ejecta plume and deposition of the upper suevite; 6) late phase of the collapse and deposition of the lower sorted suevite after interaction with the inward flowing atmosphere; 7) final phase of fall‐back from the highest part of the ejecta plume and settling of melt and solid particles through the reestablished atmosphere to form the upper sorted suevite; and 8) return of the ocean into the crater after some time and minor reworking of the uppermost suevite under aquatic conditions. Our results are compatible with: a) 180 km and 100 km for the diameters of the final crater and the transient cavity of Chicxulub, respectively, as previously proposed by several authors, and b) the interpretation of Chicxulub as a peak‐ring impact basin that is at the transition to a multi‐ring basin.