Support for two subglacial impact craters in northwest Greenland from Earth gravity model EIGEN 6C4 and other data

Klokočník, Jaroslav; Kostelecký, Jan; Bezděk, Aleš; Cílek, Václav; Kletetschka, Günther; Staňková, Hana

doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2020.228396

Cited by 17 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…This then increases the probability that the Hiawatha crater, and its potential twin, are YD impact structures. Later work that analysed the gravity field around both these structures supports their identification as impact craters (Klokocnik et al, 2020).…”

Section: Synchroneitymentioning

confidence: 88%

The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis: Review of the impact evidence

Sweatman

2021

Earth-Science Reviews

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Firestone et al., 2007, PNAS 104(41): 16016-16021, proposed that a major cosmic impact, circa 10,835 cal. BCE, triggered the Younger Dryas (YD) climate shift along with changes in human cultures and megafaunal extinctions. Fourteen years after this initial work the overwhelming consensus of research undertaken by many independent groups, reviewed here, suggests their claims of a major cosmic impact at this time should be accepted. Evidence is mainly in the form of geochemical signals at what is known as the YD boundary found across at least four continents, especially North America and Greenland, such as excess platinum, quench-melted materials, and nanodiamonds. Their other claims are not yet confirmed, but the scale of the event, including extensive wildfires, and its very close timing with the onset of dramatic YD cooling suggest they are plausible and should be researched further. Notably, arguments by a small cohort of researchers against their claims of a major impact are, in general, poorly constructed, and under close scrutiny most of their evidence can actually be interpreted as supporting the impact hypothesis.

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Section: Synchroneitymentioning

confidence: 88%

The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis: Review of the impact evidence

Sweatman

2021

Earth-Science Reviews

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“…Similarly, we apply the gravity expression of the planar weaknesses of the Moon’s impact craters. For this goal we apply a method of gravity detection of the planar network of weaknesses above the preexisting water-filled basins, which has allowed identification of paleolakes on Earth, now arid regions 37 , 52 . It appears that paleolakes hidden under thick layers in the Great Sand Sea of Western and Southern Egypt generate a special gravity aspect signature that we interpret to be related to the structural anisotropy of the sediment basin 37 , 53 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution of water phase near the poles of the Moon from gravity aspects

Kletetschka

Klokočník

Hasson

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Our Moon periodically moves through the magnetic tail of the Earth that contains terrestrial ions of hydrogen and oxygen. A possible density contrast might have been discovered that could be consistent with the presence of water phase of potential terrestrial origin. Using novel gravity aspects (descriptors) derived from harmonic potential coefficients of gravity field of the Moon, we discovered gravity strike angle anomalies that point to water phase locations in the polar regions of the Moon. Our analysis suggests that impact cratering processes were responsible for specific pore space network that were subsequently filled with the water phase filling volumes of permafrost in the lunar subsurface. In this work, we suggest the accumulation of up to ~ 3000 km3 of terrestrial water phase (Earth’s atmospheric escape) now filling the pore spaced regolith, portion of which is distributed along impact zones of the polar regions of the Moon. These unique locations serve as potential resource utilization sites for future landing exploration and habitats (e.g., NASA Artemis Plan objectives).

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“…The discovery and identification of the Paterson impact crater (figure 1) was reported in February 2019 [14,15]. The name for this crater is adopted upon the suggestion by MacGregor et al, and is given in honor of glaciologist W. S. [14].…”

Section: Paterson Cratermentioning

confidence: 99%

The Cape York Meteorites, the Younger Dryas, and Their Possible Association with the Hiawatha and Paterson Impact Craters

Beech¹,

Comte²,

Coulson³

2020

AJAA

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The recent discovery of the Hiawatha and Paterson impact craters in north-western Greenland has motivated three intriguing questions: are they associated with the Cape York meteorites, did they form at the same time, and can one or both of the craters be associated with the abrupt cooling of the Earth, some 10 -13,000 years ago, at the onset of the Younger Dryas. To address the first question, we review the properties of the Cape York meteorites and their associated strewn field. Using the Earth Impact Effects simulator, it is found that the strewn field is generally consistent with the entry of a 2 to 6-m diameter iron asteroid into the Earth's atmosphere some 1 to 2 million years ago. The latter, terrestrial residency age of the meteorites, however, remains preliminary, and further radionuclide analysis is required to confirm the fall epoch. The possibility that the Cape York meteorites are progenitor fragments ejected at the time of crater formation has been investigated with an atmospheric flight program, and while it is possible to account for progenitor fragments traveling the 300-km distance between either crater location and the strewn field, this scenario is deemed unlikely. Indeed, the craters each being in excess of 30-km in diameter would indicate the complete vaporization of the impactors. It is concluded that the Cape York meteorites are unlikely to be related to the formation of either of the craters. Additionally, the 183-km separation between such large craters is remarkable and suggestive of a contemporaneous origin. We investigate this latter possibility, and while it cannot be fully ruled out at the present time, it is, on the basis of Near-Earth Object population statistics, deemed to be highly unlikely that they formed at the same time. This issue, however, will only be fully resolved once improved age estimates become available. Indeed, better crater formation ages will also shed more light upon their possible association with the Younger Dryas onset. With respect to the global climate excursion associated with the Younger Dryas, we review the possibility that the crater progenitor bodies were derived from the Taurid Complex, finding that this scenario is deserving of further study. Moving forwards, however, the conservative hypothesis, that the two craters are temporally distinct, not related to the Cape York meteorites and/or contemporaneous with the Younger Dryas onset, is favored.

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Support for two subglacial impact craters in northwest Greenland from Earth gravity model EIGEN 6C4 and other data

Cited by 17 publications

References 21 publications

The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis: Review of the impact evidence

The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis: Review of the impact evidence

Distribution of water phase near the poles of the Moon from gravity aspects

The Cape York Meteorites, the Younger Dryas, and Their Possible Association with the Hiawatha and Paterson Impact Craters

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