Physics
Scientific paper
May 2005
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005agusm.p11a..05g&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2005, abstract #P11A-05
Physics
5420 Impact Phenomena (Includes Cratering)
Scientific paper
A new suite of multi-channel seismic reflection lines image key structural elements of the 195 km wide Chicxulub Impact Crater, the best preserved, large impact crater on Earth. The seismic transects, acquired using the R/V Maurice Ewing in January and February 2005, include regional radial lines (dip-oriented), a regional constant-radius profile (strike-oriented), and a dense grid of lines spaced 2 km by 5 km apart near the center of the crater. The radial lines image, from the exterior to interior, the crater rings, crater rim, slump blocks, and peak ring providing an enhanced look at the 3-D architecture of Chicxulub. The constant-radius profile, together with the radial lines, was designed to study any radial variations in deformation, or possibly ejecta, which may lend insight into impact angle and direction. The grid of lines near the crater center examine the structural relationships between the slump blocks, peak ring, and central uplift which according to impact modeling all formed within minutes of the Cretaceous-Tertiary impact. The regional lines, both radial and the constant radius profile, largely confirm the observations of the regional seismic lines collected in 1996. Both datasets show the existence of at least one ring outside of the crater rim and an elevated crater rim with as much as 500 m of offset between the top of the crater rim and the KT boundary within the crater that was subsequently buried by ~1 km of Tertiary sediments. Our preliminary interpretations from the seismic grid near the crater center yield a general architecture of the central crater that includes a 10-15 km wide, doughnut-shaped peak ring that lies ~25 km from the crater center. Underlying the peak ring are sediments with inconsistent reflectivity (possibly breccia), underlain by inward slumped blocks of varying widths, and underlain by ~10 km thick package of reflective lower crust ending with the Moho. The slump blocks, where imaged, underlie the peak ring suggesting slumping occurs early in the cratering process. The lower reflective crust also dips inward on occasion suggesting a possible structural interaction between the non-excavated crustal rocks and the central uplift.
Barton Penny J.
Christeson Gail
Goldin Tamara
Gulick S. S.
McDonald Michael
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