ALBERT

Description: It has been proposed that Tonle Sap, a lake in Cambodia, 100 km long and 30 km wide, marks the location of an elongate basin formed by the oblique impact of a comet or asteroid. The impact is considered to have produced melted ejecta found now as tektites over much of southeast Asia and Australia. The location of the lake, its approximate age, its size, and the orientation of its long axis (toward Australia) are consistent with this hypothesis. Our scientific objectives were to find impact or shock metamorphosed rocks unambiguously related to the Tonle Sap basin, to collect samples of rocks that may represent those melted to produce Australasian tektites, and to learn as much as possible about Cambodian geology. Using 1:200,000-scale geologic maps with fairly detailed descriptions of the rock units, we selected a number of acceptable 'phnoms' (hills that rise abruptly out of the surrounding plain) that may contain rocks affected by the postulated Tonle Sap impact. A map of central Cambodia is shown, and the locations of sites where samples were collected are indicated. A list of those sites, together with a description of the rocks reported to be present at each site, is given. No obviously shock-metamorphosed or suevite-like rocks were observed. Recent alluvium surrounding Tonle Sap is judged to be lake sediment deposited when the lake surface was at a higher elevation.

Description: The Manson impact structure, about 35 km in diameter, is the largest impact crater recognized in the United States. Its center is located near the town of Manson, 29 km west of Fort Dodge, Iowa. The structure is not well known geologically because it is covered by tens of meters of glacial deposits. What is known about the structure was learned mostly from the study of water well cuttings. At Manson the normal Phanerozoic and Proterozoic sedimentary rocks were replaced by centrally uplifted Proterozoic crystalline rocks that are representative of the normal basement: This central uplift is surrounded by completely disrupted rocks which are roughly encircled by peripherally faulted and slumped sequences of normal sedimentary strata. Radially outward normal sedimentary strata are uplifted slightly. Manson, once interpreted as a cryptovolcanic structure, is now considered an impact structure based on its circular shape, its central uplift and the presence of multiple intersecting sets of shock lamellae in quartz grains from the central uplift. The Ar-40/Ar-39 age spectrum dating results for a microcline separate from the Manson 2-A core in the central uplift is shown. This spectrum is interpreted to indicate a nearly complete degassing of the microcline at the time of the Manson impact. The remainder of the gas released climbs in age with increasing temperature of release. This pattern of the age spectrum is interpreted to represent diffusional loss due to reheating at the time of the impact and during subsequent cooling. Shocked quartz grains, present in the iridium-bearing layer at the K-T boundary throughout the world, have a significantly larger size and are more abundant in the western interior of North America than elsewhere in the world. Furthermore, shocked feldspar and granitic fragments are found at the K-T boundary in North America. These observations indicate the K-T boundary impact must have penetrated continental crust in North America.

Description: A core drilling program initiated by the Iowa Geological Survey Bureau and U.S. Geological Survey in 1991 and 1992 collected 12 cores totalling over 1200 m from the Manson Impact Structure, a probable K-T boundary structure located in north-central Iowa. Cores were recovered from each of the major structural terranes, with 2 cores (M-3 and M-4) from the Terrace Terrane, 4 cores (M-2, M-2A, M-6, and M-9) from the Crater Moat, and 6 cores (M-1, M-5, M-7, M-8, M-10, and M-11) from the Central Peak. These supplemented 2 central peak cores (1-A and 2-A) drilled in 1953. The cores penetrated five major impact lithologies: (1) sedimentary clast breccia; (2) impact ejecta; (3) central peak crystallite rocks; (4) crystalline clast breccia with sandy matrix; and (5) crystallite clast breccia with a melt matrix. Descriptions and preliminary interpretations of these cores are presented.

Description: The Manson Impact Structure is a large complex impact crater centered ca. S km north of the town of Manson, Iowa. It is the largest intact impact structure recognized in the United States (35 km in diameter). Its Ar-40/Ar-39 age is indistinguishable from that of the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary. The Manson structure may be one element of the events at the K-T boundary. The crater is completely covered by Quaternary glacial sedimentary deposits that are normally underlain by Cretaceous clastic sediments and flat-lying carbonate sediments of Phanerozoic age, as well as Proterozoic red clastic, metamorphic, volcanic, and plutonic rock sequences. The study of a reflection seismic profile, provided by Amoco, was critical in interpreting the structure. In the 35 km diameter zone that marks the extension of the crater the normal rock sequence is disturbed due to the impact, and at the center of the structure granitic basement rocks are present that have been uplifted from about 4 km depth. Our studies consist of detailed petrological and geochemical characterization of all cores, with emphasis on a detailed description of all rock types found in the core samples and their relationship to target rocks. Geochemical data on samples from the Manson M-1 core are presented.

Description: A problem for the impact hypothesis for the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) mass extinction is the apparent absence of an identifiable impact site. The Manson Impact Structure is a candidate because it is the largest recognized in the U.S.; it is relatively close to the largest and most abundant shocked quartz grains found at the K-T boundary; and its age is indistinguishable from that of the K-T boundary based on paleontological evidence, fission track dates, and preliminary Ar-40/Ar-39 measurements. The region of northwest central Iowa containing the Manson Impact Structure is covered by Quaternary glacial deposits underlain by Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks (mostly flat-lying carbonates) and Proterozoic red clastic, metamorphic, volcanic, and plutonic rocks. In a circular area about 22 miles (35 km) in diameter around Manson, Iowa, this normal sequence is absent or disturbed and near the center of the disturbed area granitic basement rocks have been uplifted some 20,000 ft (6000m). Attention was drawn to Manson initially by the unusual quality of the groundwater there. Within the structure three roughly concentric zones of rock associations have been identified: (1) displaced strata; (2) completely disrupted strata, and igneous and metamorphic rocks. Manson was established as an impact structure based on its circular shape, its central uplift, and the presence of shocked quartz within the granitic central uplift. A gravity survey identified locations of low-density brecciated rocks and high-density uplifted crystalline rocks, but the outer boundary of the structure could not be established. Aeromagnetic and ground magnetic surveys showed locations and depths of shallowly buried crystalline rock and the locations of faults. A refraction seismic survey identified the crystalline central uplift, determined that the average elevation of bedrock is 70 ft (20 m) higher outside the structure than within, and was used to map the bedrock topography within the structure. A connection between the Manson impact and the K-T boundary may be established or refuted through study of the impact energy, the impact time, and composition of host rock, possible impactors, and impact melts.

Description: Tenoumer crater meteorite impact origin from shock metamorphic features analysis

Description: K-Ar dating of shock metamorphosed rocks from Brent impact crater /Ontario, Canada/