Impact Earth: A review of the terrestrial impact record

Osinski, G. R.; Grieve, R. A. F.; Ferrière, L.; Łosiak, A.; Pickersgill, A. E.; Cavosie, A. J.; Hibbard, S. M.; Hill, P. J. A.; Bermúdez, J.; Marion, C. L.; Newman, J. D.; Simpson, Sarah

doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2022.104112

Cited by 45 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 351 publications

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“…arrangement indicates a deep LRM layer, succeeded by a layer of LBP and finally HRP, the deepest layer always being located at the center of the crater (Osinski et al, 2022;Stöffler et al, 1975). These observations provide information on the relative timing of the setting of the exterior and interior plains.…”

Section: Relative Timing For Interior and Exterior Plains From Morpho...mentioning

confidence: 71%

“…Indeed, the area is not disturbed by any tectonic event and it is therefore possible to apply the geological principles of superposition. According to crater ejecta deposition, this arrangement indicates a deep LRM layer, succeeded by a layer of LBP and finally HRP, the deepest layer always being located at the center of the crater (Osinski et al., 2022; Stöffler et al., 1975). These observations provide information on the relative timing of the setting of the exterior and interior plains.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Spectral Study of the Caloris Basin on Mercury and the Origin of Associated Volcanic Smooth Plains

et al. 2023

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Section: Relative Timing For Interior and Exterior Plains From Morpho...mentioning

confidence: 71%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Spectral Study of the Caloris Basin on Mercury and the Origin of Associated Volcanic Smooth Plains

et al. 2023

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“…Although, of course, it is possible that some of the impact-related material derives from an unknown impact structure hidden under the ice, the only likely scenario is that it originates from the nearby Hiawatha structure. We follow the recommendation of Osinski et al (2022): "samples in which shock metamorphic criteria are determined need not be in situ, as long as there is a clear topographic crater form and evidence (e.g., glacial flow directions) to connect the two". Clear evidence connecting sampled material to the Hiawatha structure under the ice has already been demonstrated (Figure 1a) (Kenny et al, 2022;Kjaer et al, 2018), and here, we therefore refer to the crater as the Hiawatha impact structure herein.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact melt rocks from the Late Paleocene Hiawatha impact structure, northwest Greenland

Hyde

Garde

Keulen

et al. 2023

Meteorit & Planetary Scien

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Impact melt rocks formed during hypervelocity impact events are ideal for studying impact structures. Here, we describe impact melt rock samples collected proximal to the 31 km wide 58 Ma Hiawatha impact structure, northwest Greenland, which is completely covered by the Greenland Ice Sheet. The melt rocks contain diagnostic shock indicators (e.g., planar deformation features [PDF] in quartz and shocked zircon) and form three groups based on melt textures and chemistry: (i) hypocrystalline, (ii) glassy, and (iii) carbonate-based melt rocks. The exposed foreland directly in front of the structure consists of metasedimentary successions and igneous plutons; however, the carbonate-based impactites indicate a mixed target sequence with a significant carbonate-rich component. Well-preserved organic material in some melt rocks indicates that North Greenland at the time of impact was host to abundant organic material, likely a dense high-latitude temperate forest. Geochemical signatures of platinum-group elements in selected samples indicate an extraterrestrial component and support previous identification of a highly fractionated iron impactor in glaciofluvial sand. Our results illustrate the possibility to study impact structures hidden beneath a thick ice sheet based on transported samples and this opens a new avenue for identifying other potential impact craters in Greenland and Antarctica.

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“…The impact record on Earth affords opportunities to investigate hypervelocity impact craters in the field and laboratory, thus providing important ground‐truth data for improving our understanding of the impact cratering process and enabling the interpretation of data from other planetary bodies. There are currently 201 confirmed impact craters and hypervelocity impact craters on Earth (Osinski et al., 2022), of which 32 are in Canada. Many of these Canadian impact sites remain poorly studied, which can be attributed to the fact that many are located in remote parts of northern Canada and have been rarely visited.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting the Gow Lake impact structure, Saskatchewan, Canada

Osinski

Coulter

Flemming

et al. 2023

Meteorit & Planetary Scien

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The ~5 km diameter Gow Lake impact structure formed in the Canadian Shield of northern Saskatchewan approximately 197 Myr ago. This structure has not been studied in detail since its discovery during a regional gravity survey in the early 1970s. We report here on field observations from a 2011 expedition that, when combined with subsequent laboratory studies, have revealed a wealth of new information about this poorly studied Canadian impact structure. Initially considered to be a prototypical central peak (i.e., a complex) impact structure, our observations demonstrate that Gow Lake is actually a transitional impact structure, making it one of only two identified on Earth. Despite its age, a well-preserved sequence of crater-fill impactites is preserved on Calder Island in the middle of Gow Lake. From the base upward, this stratigraphy is parautochthonous target rock, lithic impact breccia, clast-rich impact melt rock, red clast-poor impact melt rock, and green clast-poor impact melt rocks. Discontinuous lenses of impact melt-bearing breccia also occur near the top of the red impact melt rocks and in the uppermost green impact melt rocks. The vitric particles in these breccias display irregular and contorted outlines. This, together with their setting within crater-fill melt rocks, is indicative of an origin as flows within the transient cavity and not an airborne mode of origin. Following impact, a hydrothermal system was initiated, which resulted in alteration of the crater-fill impactites. Major alteration phases are nontronite clay, K-feldspar, and quartz.

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Impact Earth: A review of the terrestrial impact record

Cited by 45 publications

References 351 publications

A Spectral Study of the Caloris Basin on Mercury and the Origin of Associated Volcanic Smooth Plains

A Spectral Study of the Caloris Basin on Mercury and the Origin of Associated Volcanic Smooth Plains

Impact melt rocks from the Late Paleocene Hiawatha impact structure, northwest Greenland

Revisiting the Gow Lake impact structure, Saskatchewan, Canada

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