Major Element Analyses of the Target Rocks at Meteor Crater, Arizona
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NASA/TM-2002-210787 Major Element Analyses of the Target Rocks at Meteor Crater, Arizona Thomas H. See Lockheed-Martin Space Operations Houston, Texas Friedrich HSrz and David W. Mittlefehldt NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas Laura Varley Lunar and Planetary Institute Houston, Texas Stan Mertzman Franklin & Marshall College Lancaster, Pennsylvania David Roddy United States Geological Survey Flagstaff, Arizona August2002 THE NASA STI PROGRAM OFFICE . IN PROFILE Since its founding, NASA has been • CONFERENCE PUBLICATION. dedicated to the advancement of Collected papers from scientific and aeronautics and space science. The NASA technical conferences, symposia, Scientific and Technical Information (STI) seminars, or other meetings sponsored Program Office plays a key part in helping or cosponsored by NASA. NASA maintain this important role. • SPECIAL PUBLICATION. 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Mittlefehldt NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas Laura Varley Lunar and Planetary Institute Houston, Texas Stan Mertzman Franklin & Marshall College Lancaster, Pennsylvania David Roddy United States Geological Survey Flagstaff, Arizona Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center National Aeronautics and Space Administration August 2002 Acknowledgements We greatly appreciate the support by D. Barringer and J. Shoemaker and their staff of the Meteor Crater Enterprises, Inc., Flagstaff, Arizona. Their participation made for pleasurable fieldwork. L. Varley gratefully acknowledges support for the XRD investigations by the Summer Intern Program of the Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas. Dedication This report is dedicated to our co-author Dr. David J. Roddy (1932-2002), United States Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Arizona. David was an unselfish supporter of all Meteor Crater studies and he last climbed the walls of his beloved crater during the collection of this sample suite. We will remember him fondly as a respected colleague and dear friend who made profound contributions to the basic understanding of impact processes. Available from: NASA Center for AeroSpace Information National Technical Information Service 7121 Standard 5285 Port Royal Road Hanover, MD 21076-1320 Springfield, VA 22161 This report is also available in electronic form at http:lltechreports.larc.nasa.govlcgi-binlNTR Contents Page 1 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... .............................................. INTRODUCTION ............................................................. Procedures and Methods ........................................................................................... 3 3 Field Procedures .................................................................................................... ..... XRF Analysis ..................................................................................................... XRD Analyses ........................................................................................................ 6 Results ....................................................................................................................... 6 6 Bulk Composition ................................................................................................... Modal Composition ................................................................................................. 7 Examples of Data Utilization ...................................................................................... 9 Target Rocks and Impact Melts .............................................................................. 9 CO2 Loss From Carbonates During Hypervelocity Impact ................................... 11 Conclusions ..................................................... 12 14 References .............................................................................................................. Table Table 1. Composition of individual stratigraphic subsections at Meteor Crater and average compositions of the major geologic formations ................................ 18 Figures Figure 1. Summary plot of the major element concentrations, normalized to a volatile-free basis, of the target rocks at Meteor Crater, AZ .............................. 19 Figure 2. Correlation plot of CaO + MgO versus total loss-on-ignition (LOI) for the 12 Kaibab samples summarized in Table 1 ............................................... 20 Figure 3. Modal content (wt %) of quartz in the Kaibab Formation at Meteor Crater, AZ, based on XRD studies ........................................................... 21 Figure 4. Comparison of the measured SiO2, MgO, and CaO contents (wt %) of 12 Kaibab subsections based on XRF and comparison with stoichiometric calculations using the modal abundance of quartz and dolomite from XRD ........ 22 Figure 5. Comparison of the major-element composition of the target rocks and impact melts at Meteor Crater, AZ ........................................................................ 23 ..° III iv ABSTRACT We collected ~ 400 rock chips in continuous vertical profile at Meteor Crater, Arizona, representing---from bottom to top--the Coconino, Toroweap, Kaibab, and Moenkopi Formations. These rock chips were subsequently pooled into 23 samples for compositional analysis by X-ray fluorescence methods, each sample reflecting a specific stratigraphic "subsection" - 5-10 m thick. In addition, the modal abundance of quartz, dolomite, and calcite was determined for the entire Kaibab Formation at vertical resolutions of 1-2 meters using 57 samples. The purpose of these investigations was to support ongoing compositional analyses of the impact melts and their stratigraphic source depth(s) and other studies at Meteor Crater that depend on the composition of the target rocks. The Coconino Formation comprises the lower half of the crater cavity, from - 90 m below the original target surface to the bottom of the crater. It is an exceptionally pure sandstone composed of > 97 wt % SiO2. The Toroweap is only 2 m thick and compositionally similar to Coconino; therefore, it is not a good compositional marker horizon. The Kaibab Formation, ~ 80 m thick, is highly variable in SiO2, MgO, and CaO. On a CO2-free basis, the average Kaibab contains 53 wt % SiO2, 16 wt % MgO, and 26 wt % CaO. X-ray diffraction studies show that the Kaibab Formation at Meteor Crater is dominated by dolomite and quartz, albeit in highly variable proportions; calcite is a minor phase at best. The Kaibab at Meteor Crater is therefore a sandy dolomite rather than a limestone, consistent with pronounced facies changes in the Permian of southeast Arizona over short vertical and horizontal distances. The Moenkopi forms the 12-m-thick cap rock and is a calcareous silt that has the highest AI203 (~ 7.5 wt %) and FeO (~ 4 wt %) concentrations of all target rocks. With several examples, we illustrate how this systematic compositional and modal characterization of the target lithologies may contribute to an understanding of Meteor Crater, such as the depth of its melt zone, and to impact cratering in general, such as the liberation