Preservation of detrital shocked minerals derived from the 1.85 Ga Sudbury impact structure in modern alluvium and Holocene glacial deposits

Abstract

Detrital shocked minerals can provide valua ble residual records of eroded impact structures. Recent studies have reported shocked minerals in modern alluvium in a subtropical climate from the deeply eroded 2.02 Ga Vredefort Dome impact basin in South Africa. To evaluate the detrital shocked mineral record at a large impact structure in a temperate setting with a Holocene glacial erosional history, we investigated ~4000 detrital zircons and ~20,000 quartz grains at the lesseroded 1.85 Ga Sudbury Basin in Ontario, Canada, for the presence of shocked sand grains. Modern alluvium from rivers within and outside the basin, and Holocene glaciofl uvial sands (eskers and outwash deltas ) across the basin were investigated for shocked minerals. Shocked zircon and/or quartz were found in all modern rivers and most Holocene glacial deposits within, but not outside, the basin. Petrography and scanning electron microscopy (SEM; back scattered electron [BSE]; cathodoluminescence [CL]) imaging and analysis (energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy [EDS], electron backscatter diffraction [EBSD]) were used to document shock microstructures. Of the total detrital zircons surveyed, ~3% (118/3978) were identifi ed as shocked; Holocene samples contained higher average percentages of shocked zircon (63/1361, or 4.6%, with a high of 29%) compared to modern alluvium (55/2617, or 2.1%, with a high of 6%). EBSD analysis revealed a range of shock microstructures, including planar fractures, deformation microtwins, and crystal plastic deformation. At Sudbury, detrital shocked quartz is rare compared to zircon; only 15 grains (~0.08%) were identifi ed, all with decorated planar deformation features (PDFs).These results demonstrate that a detrital shocked mineral record exists at a large impact basin that is in a "youthful" stage of erosion, despite its age. In addition to modern alluvium, our results also identify glaciofl uvial eskers and deltas as reservoirs for detrital shocked minerals; glacial episodes thus enhance the dispersal and preservation of shocked detritus in sedimentary systems. Despite physical differences, the observation that the two largest Precambrian impact basins continue to contribute detrital shocked minerals 2 b.y. after impact suggests that a shocked mineral record of impacts on early Earth should reside in Precambrian siliciclastic rocks.

Planar microstructures in zircon from paleo-seismic zones

“…In addition, PDFs are often associated with shock twins (Leroux et al 1999;Moser et al 2011;Timms et al 2012b;Erickson et al 2013aErickson et al , 2013bThomson et al 2014) that form along the PDF planes. In our samples zircon twinning has not been observed.…”

Zircons from the Acraman impact melt rock (South Australia): Shock metamorphism, U–Pb and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar systematics, and implications for the isotopic dating of impact events

“…However, in many cases, precision, accuracy, and statistical robustness of (U-Th)/He ages are rather poor. Detrital shocked zircons may, moreover, serve as geochronologic tracers for the sedimentary evolution of impact structures on Earth and associated reworking processes (e.g., Cavosie et al, 2010;Moser et al, 2011;Lugo Centeno and Cavosie, 2014;Thomson et al, 2014). In addition to the terrestrial impact cratering record, zircon has been a useful tool in lunar (Zhang et al, 2011;Grange et al, 2013) and Martian (e.g., Moser et al, 2013) impact geochronology.…”

Shocked quartz in polymict impact breccia from the Upper Cretaceous Yallalie impact structure in Western Australia

“…the basement stratigraphy at Yallalie (i.e., pre-Jurassic) and that could have contributed detrital shocked grains are all located >500 km from Yallalie (Earth Impact Database 2018). Moreover, no large-scale regional fluvial or glaciogenic systems, the latter unlikely during the Cretaceous, are known that could have delivered detrital shocked grains from the older impact structures over the required distances, as has been demonstrated elsewhere (e.g., Erickson et al 2013;Thomson et al 2014;Montalvo et al 2017). It is also highly unlikely that the cm-scale shocked mudstone clasts would survive multiple sedimentary cycles.…”