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The Rock Elm structure in southwest Wisconsin is an anomalous circular area of highly deformed rocks, ϳ6.5 km in diameter, located in a region of virtually horizontal undeformed sedimentary rocks. Shockproduced planar microstructures (PMs) have been identified in quartz grains in several lithologies associated with the structure: sandstones, quartzite pebbles, and breccia. Two distinct types of PMs are present: P1 features, which appear identical to planar fractures (PFs or cleavage), and P2 features, which are interpreted as possible incipient planar deformation features (PDFs). The latter are uniquely produced by the shock waves associated with meteorite impact events. Both types of PMs are oriented parallel to specific crystallographic planes in the quartz, most commonly to c(0001), {11 2}, and r/z{10 1}. The asso-2 1 ciation of unusual, structurally deformed strata with distinct shock-produced microdeformation features in their quartzbearing rocks establishes Rock Elm as a meteorite impact structure and supports the view that the presence of multiple parallel cleavages in quartz may be used independently as a criterion for meteorite impact. Preliminary paleontological studies indicate a minimum age of Middle Ordovician for the Rock Elm structure. A similar age estimate (450-400 Ma) is obtained independently by combining the results of studies of the general morphology of complex impact structures with estimated rates †

The occurrence of graphite as a common accessory mineral in meteorites and in terrestrial metamorphic and igneous rocks gives particular importance to the study of equilibrium between graphite and a coexisting gas phase. By using a simplified model in which T, Pgas, and fO2 are independently specified for the system C‐H‐O, values of PCO2, PCO, PH2O, PH2 and PCH4 in a gas phase in equilibrium with graphite have been calculated for a wide range of geologically possible conditions by means of a high‐speed computer. The numerical results support the following general conclusions: (1) The assumption that Pgas = PH2O + PCO2 is significantly in error for many graphite‐bearing mineral assemblages. (2) Methane, CH4, may be a significant to dominant constituent of the gas phase in many possible geological environments involving moderate reduction; in particular, the occurrence of graphite with reduced minerals such as fayalite, wüstite, and iron is indicative of a methane‐rich gas phase. (3) Under metamorphic conditions, pure water is not stable with graphite, but graphite can coexist with a gas phase rich in CO2. (4) Original graphite in a sediment will stabilize increasingly reduced mineral assemblages during progressive thermal metamorphism. (5) The presence or absence of even small amounts of graphite can explain PO2 gradients observed over short distances or between adjacent layers in metamorphic rocks. (6) It is possible that the terrestrial atmosphere could have evolved by conversion of original methane to water and CO2 by reaction with graphite and other accessory minerals within the primordial earth at temperatures of 600° to 1000°C. Material requirements for such a conversion are not unreasonable, and the process itself is consistent with many proposed models for the origin of the earth.

Fullerenes (C60 and C70) have been identified by laser desorption, laser desorption post-ionization, and high-resolution electron-impact mass spectrometry in shock-produced breccias (Onaping Formation) of the Sudbury impact structure in Ontario, Canada. The C60 isotope is present at a level of a few parts per million. The fullerenes were likely synthesized within the impact plume from the carbon contained in the bolide. The oxidation of the fullerenes during the 1.85 billion years of exposure was apparently prevented by the presence of sulfur in the form of sulfide-silicate complexes associated with the fullerenes.