Possible impact spherules from near the base of the Middle Ordovician in northern Illinois

Physics

Scientific paper

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Impact Melts, Petrology, Sedimentary Rocks, Spherules, Mineralogy, Volcanology

Scientific paper

Angular fragments of a greyish-white chert-like rock containing numerous sand-size spherules believed to be of impact origin have been found in northern Illinois. These fragments, many as large as a man's fist, are recognizable in the field by the presence in them of conspicuous rounded cavities which were probably bubbles. The original mineralogy of the spherules is obscure because of wholesale replacement by microcrystalline quartz. But the shapes of some of the original minerals have been preserved as pseudomorphs. Judging from the arrangement of these pseudomorphs, and the distribution of opaque material in which they are imbedded, it appears that some spherules attained their present size as liquid droplets. The original spherule deposit, which must have been at least 15 cm thick in some places, was evidently hot enough, and sufficiently plastic, to permit the formation of large bubbles. It is not clear how the original deposit was broken into fragments.

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