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© Copyright by SARAH HUSON, 2009 All Rights Reserved QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE DEFORMATIONAL HISTORY AND TIMING OF THE SIERRA MADERA IMPACT STRUCTURE, WEST TEXAS By SARAH ANN HUSON A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY School of Earth and Environmental Science MAY 2009 © Copyright by SARAH HUSON, 2009 All Rights Reserved © Copyright by SARAH HUSON, 2009 All Rights Reserved To the Faculty of Washington State University: The members of the Committee appointed to examine the dissertation of SARAH ANN HUSON find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted. ___________________________________ Michael C. Pope, Ph.D., Chair __________________________________ F. F. Foit, Ph.D. _________________________________ D. R. Gaylord, Ph.D. _________________________________ A. J. Watkinson, Ph.D. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Mike Pope, for giving me the chance to work on this exciting project. Mike is a great advisor and I appreciate the opportunity I had to work with him. I also want to thank the members of my committee, John Watkinson, Nick Foit, and David Gaylord. They did their fair share of carrying rocks while in Texas as well as offering advice especially on how to cover up dents in field vehicles. I also owe thanks to Scotty Cornelius for helping me with microprobe work and Charles Knaack for hiring me on as a tech assistant when my funding from NASA was delayed. Also, I would also like to thank Ray Donelick for the apatite fission track dating, James Donnelly from the core facility at UT Austin for help with collecting unshocked core samples for XRD analysis, Dave Katz for sending carbonate samples from the Mission Canyon Formation for XRD analysis, and Bruce Arey from the Pacific Northwest National Lab for his assistance with SEM analyses. Paul Olin and Zsuzsanna Balogh-Brunstad were extremely helpful office-mates and provided needed distractions from time to time and for that, I am extremely appreciative. I would like to thank the members of the Lyda family who live on the property where I conducted my field work. Also, I am extremely grateful to Glenn Lang who was very instrumental in getting me access to the property and without whose efforts this research could not have taken place. Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank my mother, Donna, and sister, Rachael, who have been unwavering in their support all these years. Rick Laughlin, your support and advice are unmatched and I thoroughly thank you. iii QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE DEFORMATIONAL HISTORY AND TIMING OF THE SIERRA MADERA IMPACT STRUCTURE, WEST TEXAS Abstract by Sarah Ann Huson, Ph.D. Washington State University May 2009 Chair: Michael C. Pope The Sierra Madera impact structure is a 12.9 km diameter, well-eroded remnant of a complex impact crater located in West Texas. The crater was last studied in the early 1970’s and is an excellent site for deformation and timing studies using modern research techniques. In this dissertation, Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the Sierra Madera structure including previous geologic research regarding the crater, stratigraphy and structure/crater formation. Chapter 2 lists deformational features documented within the central uplift of the crater and assigns temperature and shock pressure values to the conditions of crater formation. Chapter 3 details the use of X-ray diffraction as a possible method to determine shocked rocks from terrestrially deformed rocks. Chapter 4 documents the use of the fission-track method to assign a radiometric age to the impact event. Chapter 5 is a field guide for the impact crater. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS……………………………………………………..…………iii ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………..………………….iv LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………..………...………….viii LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………...…...……xi CHAPTER 1: Introduction …………………..…………………………………………1 Introduction………………………………………………………………..2 Previous research at Sierra Madera………………………………………..2 Geologic history of area…………….……………………………………..6 Stratigraphy…...…………………………………………………………...8 Structure………….………………………………………………………12 Chapter summaries……………………………………………………….16 References..................................................................................................19 CHAPTER 2: Deformational feature and impact generated breccia from the Sierra Madera impact structure, West Texas……………………….......……23 Introduction................................................................................................24 Geologic setting.........................................................................................26 Methods……………………...……………………………………...……29 Deformational features…..………………………………………...……..30 Target rocks……………………………………………………...30 Impact generated breccia………………………..……………….38 Discussion.………………………………………………...……….…….45 v Conclusions………………………………………………………...…….50 Acknowledgements………………………………………………...…….50 References……………………………………………………...………...51 CHAPTER 3: Rietveld analysis of X-ray powder diffraction patterns as a potential tool for the identification of impact deformed carbonate rocks..........58 Introduction………………………………………………………...….…59 Geologic setting…..………………………………………………...……61 Experimental…………………………….………………………….....…63 Results……………...……………………………………………….....…70 Discussion……………………………………………………………..…75 Conclusions……………………………………………………..……......79 Acknowledgements………………………………………………..…......80 References………………………………………………………..………81 CHAPTER 4: Fission track age for the Sierra Madera impact structure……..……88 Introduction………………………………………………………..……..89 Geologic setting….………………………………………………..……..90 Methods….………………………………………………………..….…..92 Sample description………………………………………………..….…..92 Results…………………..…………………………………………...…...94 Discussion………………………………………………………….….…94 Conclusions……………………………………………………….…….100 Acknowledgements……………………………………………….…….100 References………………………………………………………….…...101 vi CHAPTER 5: Field guide to the Sierra Madera impact structure………….……..104 Introduction…………………………………………………………..…109 Location and background……….………………………………….…...110 Stratigraphy……..………………………………………………….…...113 Brief regional geologic history…...………………………………....….117 Past Studies…………………………...…………………………….…..118 Current and future research…………………………………………..…119 Field trip stops and descriptions……………………………………..…122 References……………………………………………………………....137 APPENDICES A. X-ray analysis data for Sierra Madera and Mission Canyon Fm calcite samples……………………………………………………………….143 B. X-ray analysis data for Sierra Madera and Mission Canyon Fm dolomite samples…………………………………………………….276 C. Single peak FWHM values for calcite-rich Sierra Madera and Mission Canyon Formation samples…………………………………………..403 D. Single peak FWHM values for dolomite-rich Sierra Madera and Mission Canyon Formation samples………………………………...408 E. Rietveld parameters for all X-ray diffraction samples………………414 F. Rietveld data for Sierra Madera and Mission Canyon Fm calcite samples……………………………………………………………….416 G. Rietveld data for Sierra Madera and Mission Canyon Fm dolomite vii samples……………………………………………………………….420 H. Electron microprobe data for calcite-rich and dolomite-rich X-ray diffraction samples…………………………………………………...424 viii LIST OF FIGURES Page 1.1. Location of the Sierra Madera impact crater………………………………….….…..3 1.2. Geologic map of Sierra Madera...…………………………………………….………4 1.3. Stratigraphic column of rocks exposed at Sierra Madera……...……………………..9 1.4. Stages of crater development for a complex crater…………………………..……...13 1.5. Cross section of Sierra Madera………………………………………………...……15 2.1. Geologic map of Sierra Madera impact crater……………..…………………..……27 2.2. Photomicrographs of sandstone deformation from the Sierra Madera impact structure…………………………………………………………………………….31 2.3. Possible surface deformation in zircon……………………………………...………33 2.4. Shatter cone deformation…………...…………………………………………..…...35 2.5. Geologic map of the central uplift of the Sierra Madera impact crater……………..37 2.6. Geologic map of the central uplift of the Sierra Madera impact crater showing location of breccia types………………….………………………….…...………..40 2.7. Monomict impact generated breccia from Sierra Madera……………...…...………42 2.8. Polymict breccia outcrop and hand sample photographs……………………...……44 2.9. Complex impact crater showing impactites locations………………………………49 3.1. Geologic map of Sierra Madera and stratigraphic column for rocks exposed at Sierra Madera ……………………………………...………………………...……………62 3.2. Location of Mission Canyon Formation samples and General stratigraphic column of the Mission Canyon Formation.…………………………………....………..………64 3.3. X-ray powder diffraction patterns of calcite and dolomite samples from the Sierra ix Madera impact structure and Lower Mississippian Mission Canyon Formation.……………………………………………………...………………......69 3.4. Single peak profiling using FWHM values for Sierra Madera and Mission Canyon Formation samples……………….…………..………….……………………..……73 3.5. Rietveld refinement analysis for Sierra Madera and Mission Canyon Formation samples.………………………...………………………………...………….………74 4.1. Geologic map of the Sierra Madera impact structure…………………………….....91 4.2. Shatter cone from the Gilliam Limestone at the Sierra Madera impact crater…...…93 4.3. Age comparison diagram……………………………………………………………96 4.4. Complex impact crater showing impactites locations………………………………98 5.1. Location of impact craters in Texas…………….....…………………………….…111 5.2. Location of the Sierra Madera structure near Fort Stockton, Texas…………....….112 5.3. Stratigraphic column of rocks that outcrop in the central uplift
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