The Manson Impact Structure, Iowa: Anatomy of an Impact Crater

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Manson Impact Structure, Iowa: Anatomy of an Impact Crater SUB Gflttlngen 204 582 27X The Manson Impact Structure, Iowa: Anatomy of an Impact Crater Edited by Christian Koeberl Institute of Geochemistry University of Vienna Althanstrasse 14 A-1090 Vienna, Austria and Raymond R. Anderson Iowa Department of Natural Resources Geological Survey Bureau 109TrowbridgeHall Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1319 PAPER 302 1996 Contents Preface v 1. Manson and Company: Impact Structures in the United States 1 Christian Koeberl and Raymond R. Anderson 2. A Brief History on Investigations of the Manson Impact Structure 31 Jack B. Hartung and Raymond R. Anderson 3. The Drilling of the 1991-1992 Geological Survey Bureau and U.S. Geological Survey Manson Impact Structure Research Cores 45 Raymond R. Anderson, Brian J. Witzke, and David J. Roddy 4. Gravity Investigation of the Manson Impact Structure, Iowa 89 J. B. Plescia 5. Structure of the Terrace Terrane, Manson Impact Structure, Iowa, Interpreted from High-Resolution Seismic Reflection Data 105 Dean Keiswetter, Ross Black, and Don Steeples 6. Sedimentary-Clast Breccias of the Manson Impact Structure 115 Brian J. Witzke and Raymond R. Anderson 7. Mineralogical, Petrological, and Geochemical Studies of Drill Core Samples from the Manson Impact Structure, Iowa 145 Christian Koeberl, Wolf Uwe Reimold, Alfred Kracher, Barbara Traxler, Andreas Vormaier, and Wilfried Korner 8. Petrography of Crystalline Clast Breccias from the Manson M-l Core 221 M. S. Bell, M. K. Reagan, R. R. Anderson, and C. T. Foster, Jr. 9. Preferential Feldspar Comminution in Impact Melt Breccias from the M-l Core of the Manson Impact Structure 235 M. K. Reagan, C. T. Foster, Jr., M. S. Bell, and R. R. Anderson in iv Contents 10. Petrography of Shocked Rocks from the Central Peak at the Manson Impact Structure 245 Nicholas M. Short and David P. Gold 11. A Transmission Electron Microscope Study of Shocked Quartz from the Manson Impact Structure 267 Hugues Leroux and Jean-Claude Doukhan 12. Geochemical Comparison of Four Cores from the Manson Impact Structure 275 Randy L. Korotev, Kaylynn M. Rockow, Bradley L. Jolliff, Larry A. Haskin, Peter McCarville, and Laura J. Crossey 13. Neodymium, Strontium, and Oxygen Isotope Investigation of the Target Stratigraphy and Impact Melt Rock from the Manson Impact Structure 317 Joel D. Blum, C. Page Chamberlain, Michael P. Hingston, and Christian Koeberl 14. Siderophile Element Concentrations in Drill Core Samples from the Manson Crater 325 Ernst Pernicka, Dietrich Kaether, and Christian Koeberl 75. Re-Os Isotope Study of Rocks from the Manson Impact Structure 331 Christian Koeberl and Steven B. Shirey 16. Preliminary Clay-Mineral Investigation of Some Impactites Recovered by Core Drilling in the Manson Impact Structure 341 Mary Clare Jones, George R. McCormick, and Raymond R. Anderson 17. Post-Impact Hydrothermal Alteration of the Manson Impact Structure 347 Peter McCarville and Laura J. Crossey 18. Fluid Inclusion Studies on Drill Core Samples from the Manson Impact Crater: Evidence for Post-Impact Hydrothermal Activity 377 R. H. Boer, W. U. Reimold, C. Koeberl, and S. E. Kesler 19. 40Ar/39Ar Thermochronology of Shocked Feldspars from the Manson Impact Structure 383 Peter Zeitler 20. Asymmetry of the Manson Impact Structure: Evidence for Impact Angle and Direction 397 Peter H. Schultz and Raymond R. Anderson 21. A Hypothesized Manson Impact Tsunami: Paleomagnetic and Stratigraphic Evidence in the Crow Creek Member, Pierre Shale 419 Maureen B. Steiner and Eugene M. Shoemaker 22. Deposition of the Crow Creek Member, Campanian, South Dakota and Nebraska 433 Brian J. Witzke, Richard H. Hammond, and Raymond R. Anderson Index 457.
Recommended publications
  • Geology, Petrography, Shock Petrography, and Geochemistry of Impactites and Target Rocks from the Kärdla Crater, Estonia
    Meteoritics & Planetary Science 39, Nr 3, 425–451 (2004) Abstract available online at http://meteoritics.org Geology, petrography, shock petrography, and geochemistry of impactites and target rocks from the Kärdla crater, Estonia V. PUURA,1* H. HUBER, 2† J. KIRS,1 A. KÄRKI,3 K. SUUROJA, 4 K. KIRSIMÄE, 1 J. KIVISILLA, 4 A. KLEESMENT, 5 M. KONSA,5 U. PREEDEN, 1 S. SUUROJA, 5 and C. KOEBERL 2 1Institute of Geology, University of Tartu, Vanemuise strasse 46, 51014 Tartu, Estonia 2Department of Geological Sciences, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria 3Institute of Geosciences, University of Oulu, Box 3000, FIN-90401 Oulu, Finland 4Geological Survey of Estonia, Kadaka tee 80/82, 12618 Tallinn, Estonia 5Institute of Geology, Tallinn Technical University, Estonia pst. 7, 10143 Tallinn, Estonia †Present address: Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California Los Angeles, 595 Charles Young Drive, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] (Received 20 December 2002; revision accepted 7 January 2004) Abstract–The Kärdla crater is a 4 km-wide impact structure of Late Ordovician age located on Hiiumaa Island, Estonia. The 455 Ma-old buried crater was formed in shallow seawater in Precambrian crystalline target rocks that were covered with sedimentary rocks. Basement and breccia samples from 13 drill cores were studied mineralogically, petrographically, and geochemically. Geochemical analyses of major and trace elements were performed on 90 samples from allochthonous breccias, sub-crater and surrounding basement rocks. The breccia units do not include any melt rocks or suevites. The remarkably poorly mixed sedimentary and crystalline rocks were deposited separately within the allochthonous breccia suites of the crater.
    [Show full text]
  • POSTER SESSION 5:30 P.M
    Monday, July 27, 1998 POSTER SESSION 5:30 p.m. Edmund Burke Theatre Concourse MARTIAN AND SNC METEORITES Head J. W. III Smith D. Zuber M. MOLA Science Team Mars: Assessing Evidence for an Ancient Northern Ocean with MOLA Data Varela M. E. Clocchiatti R. Kurat G. Massare D. Glass-bearing Inclusions in Chassigny Olivine: Heating Experiments Suggest Nonigneous Origin Boctor N. Z. Fei Y. Bertka C. M. Alexander C. M. O’D. Hauri E. Shock Metamorphic Features in Lithologies A, B, and C of Martian Meteorite Elephant Moraine 79001 Flynn G. J. Keller L. P. Jacobsen C. Wirick S. Carbon in Allan Hills 84001 Carbonate and Rims Terho M. Magnetic Properties and Paleointensity Studies of Two SNC Meteorites Britt D. T. Geological Results of the Mars Pathfinder Mission Wright I. P. Grady M. M. Pillinger C. T. Further Carbon-Isotopic Measurements of Carbonates in Allan Hills 84001 Burckle L. H. Delaney J. S. Microfossils in Chondritic Meteorites from Antarctica? Stay Tuned CHONDRULES Srinivasan G. Bischoff A. Magnesium-Aluminum Study of Hibonites Within a Chondrulelike Object from Sharps (H3) Mikouchi T. Fujita K. Miyamoto M. Preferred-oriented Olivines in a Porphyritic Olivine Chondrule from the Semarkona (LL3.0) Chondrite Tachibana S. Tsuchiyama A. Measurements of Evaporation Rates of Sulfur from Iron-Iron Sulfide Melt Maruyama S. Yurimoto H. Sueno S. Spinel-bearing Chondrules in the Allende Meteorite Semenenko V. P. Perron C. Girich A. L. Carbon-rich Fine-grained Clasts in the Krymka (LL3) Chondrite Bukovanská M. Nemec I. Šolc M. Study of Some Achondrites and Chondrites by Fourier Transform Infrared Microspectroscopy and Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy Semenenko V.
    [Show full text]
  • Emplacement of Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary Shocked Quartz from Chicxulub Crater Walter Alvarez,* Philippe Claeys,T Susan W
    ARTICLES Emplacement of Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary Shocked Quartz from Chicxulub Crater Walter Alvarez,* Philippe Claeys,t Susan W. Kieffer Observations on shocked quartz in Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary sediments get rock and with the crystallization age of compellingly tied to Chicxulub crater raise three problems. First, in North America zircons from Chicxulub melt rock (17). It shocked quartz occurs above the main K-T ejecta layer. Second, shocked quartz is now seems clear that both layers were pro- more abundant west than east of Chicxulub. Third, shocked quartz reached distances duced by the Chicxulub impact and that requiring initial velocities up to 8 kilometers per second, corresponding to shock the shocked quartz and other minerals orig- pressures that would produce melt, not the moderate-pressure shock lamellae ob- inated from the basement granite. Iridium served. Shock devolatilization and the expansion of carbon dioxide and water from and quartz are believed to come from dif- impacted wet carbonate, producing a warm, accelerating fireball after the initial hot ferent sources: vaporized meteorite and un- fireball of silicate vapor, may explain all three problems. melted basement rock, respectively. Prob- lem 1 is thus, how did the shocked quartz and the iridium end up together in a sepa- rate layer, above the layer ofkaolinitic clay? In wells and outcrops of uninterrupted ma- impact crater (12) dating precisely from the The geographic distribution of K-T rine sedimentary rocks outside of North K-T boundary at 65.0 Ma (13) and sur- shocked quartz is not fully known, but it America, the K-T boundary is marked by a rounded out to -4000-km radius by proxi- appears to be much more abundant and single 1- to 10-mm clay layer often contain- mal ejecta at the biostratigraphic K-T slightly coarser grained at longitudes west of ing anomalous iridium and altered impact boundary (5, 7, 8) has strongly confirmed Chicxulub.
    [Show full text]
  • Keller 1989 GSA Bull
    Downloaded from gsabulletin.gsapubs.org on November 18, 2014 Geological Society of America Bulletin Extended period of extinctions across the Cretaceous /Tertiary boundary in planktonic foraminifera of continental-shelf sections: Implications for impact and volcanism theories GERTA KELLER Geological Society of America Bulletin 1989;101, no. 11;1408-1419 doi: 10.1130/0016-7606(1989)101<1408:EPOEAT>2.3.CO;2 Email alerting services click www.gsapubs.org/cgi/alerts to receive free e-mail alerts when new articles cite this article Subscribe click www.gsapubs.org/subscriptions/ to subscribe to Geological Society of America Bulletin Permission request click http://www.geosociety.org/pubs/copyrt.htm#gsa to contact GSA Copyright not claimed on content prepared wholly by U.S. government employees within scope of their employment. Individual scientists are hereby granted permission, without fees or further requests to GSA, to use a single figure, a single table, and/or a brief paragraph of text in subsequent works and to make unlimited copies of items in GSA's journals for noncommercial use in classrooms to further education and science. This file may not be posted to any Web site, but authors may post the abstracts only of their articles on their own or their organization's Web site providing the posting includes a reference to the article's full citation. GSA provides this and other forums for the presentation of diverse opinions and positions by scientists worldwide, regardless of their race, citizenship, gender, religion, or political viewpoint. Opinions presented in this publication do not reflect official positions of the Society.
    [Show full text]
  • Nördlingen 2010: the Ries Crater, the Moon, and the Future of Human Space Exploration, P
    Program and Abstract Volume LPI Contribution No. 1559 The Ries Crater, the Moon, and the Future of Human Space Exploration June 25–27, 2010 Nördlingen, Germany Sponsors Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz-Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity at the Humboldt University Berlin, Germany Institut für Planetologie, University of Münster, Germany Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt DLR (German Aerospace Center) at Berlin, Germany Institute of Geoscience, University of Freiburg, Germany Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), Houston, USA Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Science Foundation), Bonn, Germany Barringer Crater Company, Decatur, USA Meteoritical Society, USA City of Nördlingen, Germany Ries Crater Museum, Nördlingen, Germany Community of Otting, Ries, Germany Märker Cement Factory, Harburg, Germany Local Organization City of Nördlingen Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz- Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity at the Humboldt University Berlin Ries Crater Museum, Nördlingen Center of Ries Crater and Impact Research (ZERIN), Nördlingen Society Friends of the Ries Crater Museum, Nördlingen Community of Otting, Ries Märker Cement Factory, Harburg Organizing and Program Committee Prof. Dieter Stöffler, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin Prof. Wolf Uwe Reimold, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin Dr. Kai Wünnemann, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin Hermann Faul, First Major of Nördlingen Prof. Thomas Kenkmann, Freiburg Prof. Harald Hiesinger, Münster Prof. Tilman Spohn, DLR, Berlin Dr. Ulrich Köhler, DLR, Berlin Dr. David Kring, LPI, Houston Dr. Axel Wittmann, LPI, Houston Gisela Pösges, Ries Crater Museum, Nördlingen Ralf Barfeld, Chair, Society Friends of the Ries Crater Museum Lunar and Planetary Institute LPI Contribution No. 1559 Compiled in 2010 by LUNAR AND PLANETARY INSTITUTE The Lunar and Planetary Institute is operated by the Universities Space Research Association under a cooperative agreement with the Science Mission Directorate of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
    [Show full text]
  • Global Catastrophes in Earth History
    GLOBAL CATASTROPHES IN EARTH HISTORY An Interdisciplinary Conference on Impacts, Volcanism, and Mass Mortality Snowbird, Utah October 20-23, 1988 N89-2 12E7 --?HEW- Sponsored by The Lunar and Planetary Institute and The National Academy of Sciences Abstracts Presented to the Topical Conference Global Catastrophes in Earth History: An Interdisciplinary Conference on Impacts, Volcanism, and Mass Mortality Snowbird, Utah October 20 - 23,1988 Sponsored by Lunar and Planetary Institute and The National Academy of Sciences LPI Contribution No. 673 Compiled in 1988 Lunar and Planetary Institute Material in this volume may be copied without restraint for library, abstract service, educational, or personal research purposes; however, republication of any paper or portion thereof requires the written permission of the authors as well as appropriate acknowledgment of this publication. PREFACE This volume contains abstracts that have been accepted for presentation at the topical conference Global Catastrophes in Earth History: An Interdisciplinary Conference on Impacts, Volcanism and Mass Mortality. The Organizing Committee consisted of Robert Ginsburg, Chairman, University of Miami; Kevin Burke, Lunar and Planetary Institute; Lee M. Hunt, National Research Council; Digby McLaren, University of Ottawa; Thomas Simkin, National Museum of Natural History; Starley L. Thompson, National Center for Atmospheric Research; Karl K. Turekian, Yale University; George W. Wetherill, Carnegie Institution of Washington. Logistics and administrative support were provided by the Projects Ofice at the Lunar and Planetary Institute. This abstract volume was prepared by the Publications Office staff at the Lunar and Planetary Institute. The Lunar and Planetary Institute is operated by the Universities Space Research Association under contract No. NASW-4066 with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
    [Show full text]
  • African Meteorite Impact Craters: Characteristics and Geological Importance
    Journal of African Earth Sciences, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 263-295, 1994 Pergamon Copyright © 1994 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved 0899-5362/94 $7.00 + 0.00 0899-5362(94)00044-1 African meteorite impact craters: characteristics and geological importance CHRISTIAN KOEBERLt~ 1Institute of Geochemistry, University of Vienna, Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Ring 1, A-1010 Vienna, Austria. 2Economic Geology Research Unit, Depa~ i.ment of Geology, University of the Witwatemmnd,Johannesburg 2050, South Africa. (Received 26 October 1993 : accepted 12 May 1994) Abslzact - Geologists have realized that impact cratering is the single most important surface-forming and modifying process for the other terrestrial planets and the satellites of all planets. The recognition of impact cratering as an important geological process on earth has been rather slow. However, geologists are now realizing that giant impacts have had a determining influence on the geological and biological evolution of our planet. The study of impact craters allows important conclusions, not only about the origin mid history of our solar system and its planets, but also about a fundamentally important geological process. In addition, impact craters may have a definite economic importance as some craters have been shown to contain important mineral or oil deposits. F'dtesn meteorite impact craters have so far been identified on the African continent:. Amguid (Algeria), Aomunga (Chad), Aouelloul (Mauritania), B.P. (Libya), Bosumtwi (Ghana), Highbury (Zimbabwe), Kalkkop (South Africa), Oasis (Libya), Ouarkziz (Algeria), Roter Kamm (Namibia), Saitpan (South Africa), Talemzane (Algeria), Tenoumer (Mauritania), T'm Bider (Algeria), and V~:lefort (South Africa).
    [Show full text]
  • Scientific Contradictions to the Book of Genesis
    Scientific Contradictions To The Book Of Genesis www.CreationismOnline.com How Old Are Moon Rocks? According to Genesis 1:14-19 the Moon was made on day 4 of the creation week. According to radiometric dating methods the Moon is: Thorium - Lead Dating = 4.87 to 28.14 Billion Years Old. Uranium-Lead Dating = 5.06 to 10.28 Billion Years Old. Lead - Lead Dating = 5 Billion Years Old. Potassium-Argon Dating = 2.1 to 17 Billion Years Old. Earth And Planetary Science Letters, Volume 14, 1972, Page 281 – 304 The Moon was made on day 4 of the creation week. According to current consensus the Moon is about 5 Thousand Million years old. Science, Volume 167, January 30th, 1970, Page 461-483. Earth And Planetary Science Letters, Volume 14, 1972, Page 169-175, 281 - 304. Clyde Webster states that the Solar System is 4,500 million years old: “Is it possible that the beginning for the consolidation of our Solar System within the universe could have been 4,500 million years ago? Does that impact on scripture? If I understand scripture properly, I have to come back and say NO.”. Record, “A Scientist Talks About Creation”, March 11, 1995, Page 6-9. In an earlier book he states that the Solar System is only 6,000 years old: “These objections can be overcome if we interpret the fourth day of the creation week as addressing only our Solar System and not the entire Universe.” The Earth: Origins And Early History, Dr. Clyde Webster, North American Division Press, 1981, Chapter 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Ar Age of the Manson Iowa Impact Structure and Coeval Impact Ejecta in the Crow Creek Member of the Pierre Shale, South Dakota and Nebraska
    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Geological Survey Ar/ Ar Age of the Manson Iowa Impact Structure and Coeval Impact Ejecta in the Crow Creek Member of the Pierre Shale, South Dakota and Nebraska by G.A. Izett1, W.A. Cobban2, G.B. Dalrymple3, and J.D. Obradovich2 Open-File Report 97-523 October 1997 This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with the U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards. Any use of trade names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the USGS. College of William and Mary, 3012 East Whittaker Close, Williamsburg, VA 23185 2U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225 3College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331 Table of Contents Page Abstract.....................................^ Introduction...............................................................................^^ Manson impact structure ............................................................................................ J.... Previous isotopic age studies .......................................................................................A... Description of M-l core ............................................................................................. .5.... 40Ar/39Ar ages of M-l core ............................................................................................5.... Crow Creek Member of the Pierre Shale ......................................................................5... Shocked mineral grains..............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Manson Impact Structure: the Impact-Melt Component
    MANSON IMPACT STRUCTURE: THE IMPACT-MELT COMPONENT. BRADLEY L. JOLLIFF, RANDY L. KOROTEV, KAYLYNN M. ROCKOW, AND LARRY A. HASKIN, DEPARW OF EARTHAND PLANETARY SCIENCES& MCDONNEJL CENTERFOR THE SPACESCIENCES, WASHINGTONUNIVERSITY, ST. LOUIS, MO 63 130. The nature and composition of impact melt in the Manson Impact Structure WS) are enigmatic because impact- melt breccia (IMB) was sampled only along the upper flanks of the central uplift [I]. Results of our geochemical investigation of the IMB interval in the M-1 core suggest that the impact melt, which we believe originated as part of a crater melt layer, was modified by mechanical mixing with melt-poor suevite breccia (SB) within the crater during uplift of the central peak. We base this on subtle but systematic wmpositional variations throughout the IMB interval and especially near its upper and lower margins. Matrix-rich samples of the breccia, which we consider to consist mainly of fiom impact melt, have a narrow wmpositional range, the average of which can be modeled as a mixture of about 35% shale and siltstone of the Proterozoic "Red Clastics," 23% granite, 40% hornblende- and biotite-gneiss, and some 2% maiic dike rocks [2]. The composition of melt in the M-1 core, which is a reasonable mixture of pre-impact target rocks, is significantly different from the wmpositions of impact breccia veins in crystalline-rock megabreccia. The latter have compositions that are similar to their spec& host rocks [2], not averages of many target lithologies. Thus, they are pseudotachylites, formed locally or in-situ by frictional melting associated with the impact or central-peak rebound.
    [Show full text]
  • 19930000965.Pdf
    I_G: LPI Contribution No. 790 41 thermal metamorphic features with the thennal model may improve of Ir and other siderophile elements in rocks marking the K/T our knowledge of the geologic process connected with impact boundary and interpreted it as the mark of a giant asteroid (or comet) cratering. impact, scientists have tried to understand the complexities of the References: [1] Melosh H. J. (1990) Impact Cratering: A K/T boundary event. The impact theory received a critical boost by Geological Process. 245 pp. [2] Pevzner L. A. et al. (1992) LPSC the discovery of shocked minerals that have so far been found only XXIII. [3] Ivanov B. A. (19&S)LPSCXIX, 531-532. in association with impact craters [2]. One of the problems of the <T K/T impact theory was. and still is. the lack of an adequate, large crater that is close to the maximum abundance of shocked grains in THERMOBAROMETRIC STUDIES ON THE LEVACK K/T boundary sections, which was found to occur in sections in GNEISSES—FOOTWALL ROCKS TO THE SUDBURY Northern America. The recent discovery of impact glasses from a IGNEOUS COMPLEX. R. S. James', W. Peredery*. and J. M. K/T section in Haiti [3,4] has been crucial in establishing a connec- Sweeny1, 'Geology Department, Laurentian University, Sudbury, tion with documented impact processes. The location of the impact- Ontario P3E 2C6, Canada, 2INCO E.T.S., Copper Cliff, Ontario glass findings and the continental nature of detritus found in all POM 1NO. Canada, and 'Falconbridge Limited (Exploration). K/T sections supports at least one impact site on or near the North Falconbridge, Ontario POM ISO, Canada.
    [Show full text]
  • Continental Drilling and the Study of Impact Craters and Processes – an ICDP Perspective
    Continental Drilling and the Study of Impact Craters and Processes – an ICDP Perspective 1 2 Christian Koeberl and Bernd Milkereit * 1Department of Geological Sciences, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria e-mail: [email protected] (corresponding author) 2Department of Physics University of Toronto, 60 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A7, Canada *prepared with the help of the ICDP impact crater working group (see acknowledgments) Abstract Currently about 170 impact craters are known on Earth; about one third of those structures are not exposed on the surface and can only be studied by geophysics or drilling. The impact origin of geological structures can only be confirmed by petrographic and geochemical studies; thus, it is of crucial importance to obtain samples of subsurface structures. In addition, struc- tures that have surface exposures commonly require drilling and drill cores to obtain information of the subsurface structure, to provide ground-truth for geophysical studies, and to obtain samples of rock types not exposed at the surface. For many years, drilling of impact craters was rarely done in dedicated projects, mainly due to the high cost involved. Structures were most often drilled for reasons unrelated to their impact origin. In the for- mer Soviet Union a number of impact structures were drilled for scientific reasons, but in most of these cases the curation and proper care of the cores was not guaranteed. More recently the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) has supported projects to study impact craters. The first ICDP- supported study of an impact structure was the drilling into the 200-km- diameter, K-T boundary age, subsurface Chicxulub impact crater, Mexico, which occurred between December 2001 and February 2002.
    [Show full text]