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1.
Abstract— To ascertain the progressive stages of shock metamorphism of zircon, samples from three well‐studied impact craters were analyzed by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Raman spectroscopy in thin section and grain separates. These samples are comprised of well‐preserved, rapidly quenched impactites from the Ries crater, Germany, strongly annealed impactites from the Popigai crater, Siberia, and altered, variably quenched impactites from the Chicxulub crater, Mexico. The natural samples were compared with samples of experimentally shock‐metamorphosed zircon. Below 20 GPa, zircon exhibits no distinct shock features. Above 20 GPa, optically resolvable planar microstructures occur together with the high‐pressure polymorph reidite, which was only retained in the Ries samples. Decomposition of zircon to ZrO2 only occurs in shock stage IV melt fragments that were rapidly quenched. This is not only a result of post‐shock temperatures in excess of ?1700 °C but could also be shock pressure‐induced, which is indicated by possible relics of a high‐pressure polymorph of ZrO2. However, ZrO2 was found to revert to zircon with a granular texture during devitrification of impact melts. Other granular textures represent recrystallized amorphous ZrSiO4 and reidite that reverted to zircon. This requires annealing temperatures >1100 °C. A systematic study of zircons from a continuous impactite sequence of the Chicxulub impact structure yields implications for the post‐shock temperature history of suevite‐like rocks until cooling below ?600 °C.  相似文献   

2.
In this paper, we compare the U‐Pb zircon age distribution pattern of sample 14311 from the Apollo 14 landing site with those from other breccias collected at the same landing site. Zircons in breccia 14311 show major age peaks at 4340 and 4240 Ma and small peaks at 4110, 4030, and 3960 Ma. The zircon age patterns of breccia 14311 and other Apollo 14 breccias are statistically different suggesting a separate provenance and transportation history for these breccias. This interpretation is supported by different U‐Pb Ca‐phosphate and exposure ages for breccia 14311 (Ca‐phosphate age: 3938 ± 4 Ma, exposure age: ~550–660 Ma) from the other Apollo 14 breccias (Ca‐phosphate age: 3927 ± 2 Ma, compatible with the Imbrium impact, exposure age: ~25–30 Ma). Based on these observations, we consider two hypotheses for the origin and transportation history of sample 14311. (1) Breccia 14311 was formed in the Procellarum KREEP terrane by a 3938 Ma‐old impact and deposited near the future site of the Imbrium basin. The breccia was integrated into the Fra Mauro Formation during the deposition of the Imbrium impact ejecta at 3927 Ma. The zircons were annealed by mare basalt flooding at 3400 Ma at Apollo 14 landing site. Eventually, at approximately 660 Ma, a small and local impact event excavated this sample and it has been at the surface of the Moon since this time. (2) Breccia 14311 was formed by a 3938 Ma‐old impact. The location of the sample is not known at that time but at 3400 Ma, it was located nearby or buried by hot basaltic flows. It was transported from where it was deposited to the Apollo 14 landing site by an impact at approximately 660 Ma, possibly related to the formation of the Copernicus crater and has remained at the surface of the Moon since this event. This latter hypothesis is the simplest scenario for the formation and transportation history of the 14311 breccia.  相似文献   

3.
The fundamental approach for the confirmation of any terrestrial meteorite impact structure is the identification of diagnostic shock metamorphic features, together with the physical and chemical characterization of impactites and target lithologies. However, for many of the approximately 200 confirmed impact structures known on Earth to date, multiple scale‐independent tell‐tale impact signatures have not been recorded. Especially some of the pre‐Paleozoic impact structures reported so far have yielded limited shock diagnostic evidence. The rocks of the Dhala structure in India, a deeply eroded Paleoproterozoic impact structure, exhibit a range of diagnostic shock features, and there is even evidence for traces of the impactor. This study provides a detailed look at shocked samples from the Dhala structure, and the shock metamorphic evidence recorded within them. It also includes a first report of shatter cones that form in the shock pressure range from ~2 to 30 GPa, data on feather features (FFs), crystallographic indexing of planar deformation features, first‐ever electron backscatter diffraction data for ballen quartz, and further analysis of shocked zircon. The discovery of FFs in quartz from a sample of the MCB‐10 drill core (497.50 m depth) provides a comparatively lower estimate of shock pressure (~7–10 GPa), whereas melting of a basement granitoid infers at least 50–60 GPa shock pressure. Thus, the Dhala impactites register a strongly heterogeneous shock pressure distribution between <2 and >60 GPa. The present comprehensive review of impact effects should lay to rest the nonimpact genesis of the Dhala structure proposed by some earlier workers from India.  相似文献   

4.
In situ U‐Pb measurements on zircons of the Ries impact crater are presented for three samples from the quarry at Polsingen. The U‐Pb data of most zircons plot along a discordia line, leading to an upper intercept of Carboniferous age (331 ± 32 Ma [2σ]). Four zircons define a concordia age of 313.2 ± 4.4 Ma (2σ). This age most probably represents the age of a granite from the basement target rocks. From granular textured zircon grains (including baddeleyite and anatase/Fe‐rich phases, first identified in the Ries crater), most probably recrystallized after impact (13 analyses, 4 grains), a concordia age of 14.89 ± 0.34 Ma (2σ) and an error weighted mean 206Pb*/238U age of Ma 14.63 ± 0.43 (2σ) is derived. Including the youngest concordant ages of five porous textured zircon grains (24 spot analyses), a concordia age of 14.75 ± 0.22 Ma (2σ) and a mean 206Pb*/238U age of 14.71 ± 0.26 Ma (2σ) can be calculated. These results are consistent with previously published 40Ar/39Ar ages of impact glasses and feldspar. Our results demonstrate that even for relatively young impact craters, reliable U‐Pb ages can be obtained using in situ zircon dating by SIMS. Frequently the texture of impact shocked zircon grains is explained by decomposition at high temperatures and recrystallization to a granular texture. This is most probably the case for the observed granular zircon grains having baddeleyite/anatase/Fe‐rich phases. We also observe non‐baddeleyite/anatase/Fe‐rich phase bearing zircons. For these domains, reset to crater age is more frequently for high U,Th contents. We tentatively explain the higher susceptibility to impact resetting of high U,Th domains by enhanced Pb loss and mobilization due to higher diffusivity within former metamict domains that were impact metamorphosed more easily into porous as well as granular textures during decomposition and recrystallization, possibly supported by Pb loss during postimpact cooling and/or hydrothermal activity.  相似文献   

5.
U‐Pb ages of zircon in four different Apollo 14 breccias (14305, 14306, 14314, and 14321) were obtained by secondary ion mass spectrometry. Some of the analyzed grains occur as cogenetic, poikilitic zircon grains in lithic clasts, revealing magmatic events at ~4286 Ma, ~4200–4220 Ma, and ~4150 Ma. The age distribution of the crystal clasts in the breccias exhibits a minor peak at ~4210 Ma, which can be attributed to a magmatic event, as recorded in zircon grains located in noritic clasts. An age peak at ~4335 Ma is present in all four breccias, as well as zircon grains from different Apollo landing sites, enhancing the confidence that these grains recorded a global zircon‐forming event. The overall age distribution among the four breccias exhibits minor differences between the breccias collected farther away from the Cone Crater and the ones collected within the continuous ejecta blanket of the Cone Crater. A granular zircon grain yielded a 207Pb/206Pb age of 3936 ± 8 Ma, which is interpreted as an impact event. A similar age of 3941 ± 5 Ma (n = 17, MSWD = 0.89, P = 0.58) was obtained for a large zircon grain (~430 × 340 μm in size). This grain might have crystallized in the same impact melt sheet which formed the granular zircon or the age is representative of the final extrusion of KREEP magma. The majority of zircon grains, however, occur as isolated crystal clasts within the matrix and their ages cannot be correlated with any real events (impact or magmatic) nor can the possibility be excluded that these ages represent partial resetting of the U‐Pb system.  相似文献   

6.
Here we present a study of the abundance and orientation of planar deformation features (PDFs) in the Vakkejokk Breccia, a proposed lower Cambrian impact ejecta layer in the North‐Swedish Caledonides. The presence of PDFs is widely accepted as evidence for shock metamorphism associated with cosmic impact events and their presence confirms that the Vakkejokk Breccia is indeed the result of an impact. The breccia has previously been divided into four lithological subunits (from bottom to top), viz. lower polymict breccia (LPB), graded polymict breccia (GPB), top sandstone (TS), and top conglomerate (TC). Here we show that the LPB contains no shock metamorphic features, indicating that the material derives from just outside of the crater and represents low‐shock semi‐autochthonous bombarded strata. In the overlying, more fine‐grained GPB and TS, quartz grains with PDFs are relatively abundant (2–5% of the grain population), and with higher shock levels in the upper parts, suggesting that they have formed by reworking of more distal ejecta by resurge of water toward the crater in a marine setting. The absence of shocked quartz grains in the TC indicates that this unit represents later slumps associated with weathering and erosion of the protruding crater rim. Sparse shocked quartz grains (<0.2%) were also found in sandstone beds occurring at the same stratigraphic level as the Vakkejokk Breccia 15–20 km from the inferred crater site. It is currently unresolved whether the sandstone at these distal sites is related to the impact or just contains rare reworked quartz grains with PDFs.  相似文献   

7.
Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) U‐Pb ages of Ca‐phosphates from four texturally distinct breccia samples (72255, 76055, 76015, 76215) collected at the Apollo 17 landing site were obtained in an attempt to identify whether they represent a single or several impact event(s). The determined ages, combined with inferences from petrologic relationships, may indicate two or possibly three different impact events at 3920 ± 3 Ma, 3922 ± 5 Ma, and 3930 ± 5 Ma (all errors 2σ). Searching for possible sources of the breccias by calculating the continuous ejecta radii of impact basins and large craters as well as their expected ejecta thicknesses, we conclude that Nectaris, Crisium, Serenitatis, and Imbrium are likely candidates. If the previous interpretation that the micropoikilitic breccias collected at the North Massif represent Serenitatis ejecta is correct, then the average 207Pb/206Pb age of 3930 ± 5 Ma (2σ) dates the formation of the Serenitatis basin. The occurrence of zircon in the breccias sampled at the South Massif, which contain Ca‐phosphates yielding an age of 3922 ± 5 Ma (2σ), may indicate that the breccia originated from within the Procellarum KREEP terrane (PKT) and the Imbrium basin appears to be the only basin that could have sourced them. However, this interpretation implies that all basins suggested to fall stratigraphically between Serenitatis and Imbrium formed within a short (<11 Ma) time interval, highlighting serious contradictions between global stratigraphic constraints, sample interpretation, and chronological data. Alternatively, the slightly older age of the two micropoikilitic breccias may be a result of incomplete resetting of the U‐Pb system preserved in some phosphate grains. Based on the currently available data set this possibility cannot be excluded.  相似文献   

8.
Previous age estimates of the Imbrium impact range from 3770 to 3920 Ma, with the latter being the most commonly accepted age of this basin‐forming event. The occurrence of Ca‐phosphates in Apollo 14 breccias, interpreted to represent ejecta formed by this impact, provides a new opportunity to date the Imbrium event as well as refining the impact history of the Moon. We present new precise U‐Pb analyses of Ca‐phosphates from impact breccia sample 14311 that are concordant and give a reliable weighted average age of 3938 ± 4 Ma (2σ). Comparison with previously published U‐Pb data on phosphate from Apollo 14 samples indicate that all ages are statistically similar and suggest phosphates could have been formed by the same impact at 3934 Ma ± 3 Ma (2σ). However, this age is older than the 3770 to 3920 Ma range determined for other samples and also interpreted as formed during the Imbrium impact. This suggests that several impacts occurred during a 20–30 Ma period around 3900 Ma and formed breccias sampled by the Apollo missions.  相似文献   

9.
Single crystal (U‐Th)/He dating has been undertaken on 21 detrital zircon grains extracted from a core sample from Ocean Drilling Project (ODP) site 1073, which is located ~390 km northeast of the center of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure. Optical and electron imaging in combination with energy dispersive X‐ray microanalysis (EDS) of zircon grains from this late Eocene sediment shows clear evidence of shock metamorphism in some zircon grains, which suggests that these shocked zircon crystals are distal ejecta from the formation of the ~40 km diameter Chesapeake Bay impact structure. (U‐Th/He) dates for zircon crystals from this sediment range from 33.49 ± 0.94 to 305.1 ± 8.6 Ma (2σ), implying crystal‐to‐crystal variability in the degree of impact‐related resetting of (U‐Th)/He systematics and a range of different possible sources. The two youngest zircon grains yield an inverse‐variance weighted mean (U‐Th)/He age of 33.99 ± 0.71 Ma (2σ uncertainties n = 2; mean square weighted deviation = 2.6; probability [P] = 11%), which is interpreted to be the (U‐Th)/He age of formation of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure. This age is in agreement with K/Ar, 40Ar/39Ar, and fission track dates for tektites from the North American strewn field, which have been interpreted as associated with the Chesapeake Bay impact event.  相似文献   

10.
The high‐pressure minerals of reidite and coesite have been identified in the moderately shock‐metamorphosed gneiss (shock stage II, 35–45 GPa) and the strongly shock‐metamorphosed gneiss (shock stage III, 45–55 GPa), respectively, from the polymict breccias of the Xiuyan crater, a simple impact structure 1.8 km in diameter in China. Reidite in the shock stage II gneiss displays lamellar textures developed in parental grains of zircon. The phase transformation of zircon to reidite likely corresponds to a martensitic mechanism. No coesite is found in the reidite‐bearing gneiss. The shock stage III gneiss contains abundant coesite, but no reidite is identified in the rock. Coesite occurs as acicular, dendritic, and spherulitic crystals characteristic of crystallization from shock‐produced silica melt. Zircon in the rock is mostly recrystallized. The postshock temperature in the shock stage III gneiss is too high for the preservation of reidite, whereas reidite survives in the shock stage II gneiss because of relatively low postshock temperature. Reidite does not occur together with coesite because of difference in shock‐induced temperature between the shock stage II gneiss and the shock stage III gneiss.  相似文献   

11.
The results of a set of laboratory impact experiments (speeds in the range 1–5 km s−1) are reviewed. They are discussed in the context of terrestrial impact ejecta impacting the Moon and hence lunar astrobiology through using the Moon to learn about the history of life on Earth. A review of recent results indicates that survival of quite complex organic molecules can be expected in terrestrial meteorites impacting the lunar surface, but they may have undergone selective thermal processing both during ejection from the Earth and during lunar impact. Depending on the conditions of the lunar impact (speed, angle of impact etc.) the shock pressures generated can cause significant but not complete sterilisation of any microbial load on a meteorite (e.g. at a few GPa 1–0.1% of the microbial load can survive, but at 20 GPa this falls to typically 0.01–0.001%). For more sophisticated biological products such as seeds (trapped in rocks) the lunar impact speeds generate shock pressures that disrupt the seeds (experiments show this occurs at approximately 1 GPa or semi-equivalently 1 km s−1). Overall, the delivery of terrestrial material of astrobiological interest to the Moon is supported by these experiments, although its long term survival on the Moon is a separate issue not discussed here.  相似文献   

12.
Yallalie is a ~12 km diameter circular structure located ~200 km north of Perth, Australia. Previous studies have proposed that the buried structure is a complex impact crater based on geophysical data. Allochthonous breccia exposed near the structure has previously been interpreted as proximal impact ejecta; however, no diagnostic indicators of shock metamorphism have been found. Here we report multiple (27) shocked quartz grains containing planar fractures (PFs) and planar deformation features (PDFs) in the breccia. The PFs occur in up to five sets per grain, while the PDFs occur in up to four sets per grain. Universal stage measurements of all 27 shocked quartz grains confirms that the planar microstructures occur in known crystallographic orientations in quartz corresponding to shock compression from 5 to 20 GPa. Proximity to the buried structure (~4 km) and occurrence of shocked quartz indicates that the breccia represents either primary or reworked ejecta. Ejecta distribution simulated using iSALE hydrocode predicts the same distribution of shock levels at the site as those found in the breccia, which supports a primary ejecta interpretation, although local reworking cannot be excluded. The Yallalie impact event is stratigraphically constrained to have occurred in the interval from 89.8 to 83.6 Ma based on the occurrence of Coniacian clasts in the breccia and undisturbed overlying Santonian to Campanian sedimentary rocks. Yallalie is thus the first confirmed Upper Cretaceous impact structure in Australia.  相似文献   

13.
Abstract– Dhofar 458 is a lunar meteorite consisting mainly of olivine‐plagioclase intergrowths, pyroxene‐plagioclase intergrowths, and plagioclase fragments. Pyroxene‐plagioclase globules are also common. In this study, we report the discovery of a polycrystalline zircon in this lunar meteorite. The polycrystalline zircon contains small vesicles and rounded baddeleyite grains at its margin. The polycrystalline and porous texture of the zircon indicates high‐pressure shock‐induced melting and degassing. Baddeleyite grains are derived from decomposition of zircon under high postshock temperature. The shock features in zircon indicates that the shock pressure in Dhofar 458 was greater than approximately 60 GPa and the postshock temperature greater than approximately 1700 °C. The polycrystalline and degassing texture and decomposition zircon also strongly indicates that Dhofar 458 is a clast‐rich impact melt rock. During this shock event, most components were melted and grains of mafic minerals are interstitial to lath‐like plagioclase grains. Large fragments of olivine and chromite also formed polycrystalline texture at margins and chemically reequilibrated with surrounding melts. We suggest that pyroxene‐plagioclase globules could be remains of melted target clasts, whereas vesicles may form during shock‐induced degassing of the rock. The U‐Pb isotopic data plot on a well‐defined discordant line, yielding the age of the zircon of 3434 ± 15 Ma (2σ). This age is interpreted as the time of the impact event that melted Dhofar 458 and caused decomposition and recrystallization of this zircon in Dhofar 458, which reset this zircon’s U‐Pb age.  相似文献   

14.
The ejecta blankets of impact craters in volatile‐rich environments often possess characteristic layered ejecta morphologies. The so‐called double‐layered ejecta (DLE) craters are characterized by two ejecta layers with distinct morphologies. The analysis of high‐resolution image data, especially HiRISE and CTX, provides new insights into the formation of DLE craters. A new phenomenological excavation and ejecta emplacement model for DLE craters is proposed based on a detailed case study of the Martian crater Steinheim—a well‐preserved DLE crater—and studies of other DLE craters. The observations show that the outer ejecta layer is emplaced as medial and distal ejecta that propagate outwards in a debris avalanche or (if saturated with water) a debris flow mode after landing, overrunning previously formed secondary craters. In contrast, the inner ejecta layer is formed by a translational slide of the proximal ejecta deposits during the emplacement stage that overrun and superimpose parts of the outer ejecta layer. Based on our model, DLE craters on Mars are the result of an impact event into a rock/ice mixture that produces large amounts of shock‐induced vaporization and melting of ground ice, leading to high ejection angles, proximal landing positions, and an ejecta curtain with relatively wet (in terms of water in liquid form) composition in the distal part versus dryer composition in the proximal part. As a consequence, basal melting of ice components in the ejecta at the transient crater rim, which is induced by frictional heating and the enhanced pressure at depth, initiates an outwards directed collapse of crater rim material in a translational slide mode. Our results indicate that similar processes may also be applicable for other planetary bodies with volatile‐rich environments, such as Ganymede, Europa, and the Earth.  相似文献   

15.
Abstract— We surveyed the impact crater populations of Venus and the Moon, dry targets with and without an atmosphere, to characterize how the 3‐dimensional shape of a crater and the appearance of the ejecta blanket varies with impact angle. An empirical estimate of the impact angle below which particular phenomena occur was inferred from the cumulative percentage of impact craters exhibiting different traits. The results of the surveys were mostly consistent with predictions from experimental work. Assuming a sin2θ dependence for the cumulative fraction of craters forming below angle θ, on the Moon, the following transitions occur: >?45 degrees, the ejecta blanket becomes asymmetric; >?25 degrees, a forbidden zone develops in the uprange portion of the ejecta blanket, and the crater rim is depressed in that direction; >?15 degrees, the rim becomes saddle‐shaped; >?10 degrees, the rim becomes elongated in the direction of impact and the ejecta forms a “butterfly” pattern. On Venus, the atmosphere causes asymmetries in the ejecta blanket to occur at higher impact angles. The transitions on Venus are: >?55 degrees, the ejecta becomes heavily concentrated downrange; >?40 degrees, a notch in the ejecta that extends to the rim appears, and as impact angle decreases, the notch develops into a larger forbidden zone; >?10 degrees, a fly‐wing pattern develops, where material is ejected in the crossrange direction but gets swept downrange. No relationship between location or shape of the central structure and impact angle was observed on either planet. No uprange steepening and no variation in internal slope or crater depth could be associated with impact angle on the Moon. For both planets, as the impact angle decreases from vertical, first the uprange and then the downrange rim decreases in elevation, while the remainder of the rim stays at a constant elevation. For craters on Venus >?15 km in diameter, a variety of crater shapes are observed because meteoroid fragment dispersal is a significant fraction of crater diameter. The longer path length for oblique impacts causes a correlation of clustered impact effects with oblique impact effects. One consequence of this correlation is a shallowing of the crater with decreasing impact angle for small craters.  相似文献   

16.
This study demonstrates a relationship between changes of magnetic susceptibility and microstructure developing in minerals of a magnetite‐bearing ore, experimentally shocked to pressures of 5, 10, 20, and 30 GPa. Shock‐induced effects on magnetic properties were quantified by bulk magnetic susceptibility measurements while shock‐induced microstructures were studied by high‐resolution scanning electron microscopy. Microstructural changes were compared between magnetite, quartz, amphibole, and biotite grains. In the 5 GPa sample, a sharp drop of magnetic susceptibility correlates with distinct fragmentation as well as with formation of shear bands and twins in magnetite. At 10 GPa, shear bands and twins in magnetite are accompanied by droplet‐shaped nanograins. In this shock pressure regime, quartz and amphibole still show intensive grain fragmentation. Twins in quartz and foam‐shaped, highly porous amphibole are formed at 20 and 30 GPa. The formation of porous minerals suggests that shock heating of these mineral grains resulted in localized temperature spikes. The identified shock‐induced features in magnetite strongly advise that variations in the bulk magnetic susceptibility result from cooperative grain fragmentation, plastic deformation and/or localized amorphization, and probably postshock annealing. In particular, the increasing shock heating at high pressures is assumed to be responsible for a partial defect annealing which we suggest to be responsible for the almost constant values of magnetic susceptibility above 10 GPa.  相似文献   

17.
Abstract— We report secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) U‐Pb analyses of zircon and apatite from four breccia samples from the Apollo 14 landing site. The zircon and apatite grains occur as cogenetic minerals in lithic clasts in two of the breccias and as unrelated mineral clasts in the matrices of the other two. SIMS U‐Pb analyses show that the ages of zircon grains range from 4023 ± 24 Ma to 4342 ± 5 Ma, whereas all apatite grains define an isochron corresponding to an age of 3926 ± 3 Ma. The disparity in the ages of cogenetic apatite and zircon demonstrates that the apatite U‐Pb systems have been completely reset at 3926 ± 3 Ma, whereas the U‐Pb system of zircon has not been noticeably disturbed at this time. The apatite U‐Pb age is slightly older than the ages determined by other methods on Apollo 14 materials highlighting need to reconcile decay constants used for the U‐Pb, Ar‐Ar and Rb‐Sr systems. We interpret the apatite age as a time of formation of the Fra Mauro Formation. If the interpretation of this Formation as an Imbrium ejecta is correct, apatite also determines the timing of Imbrium impact. The contrast in the Pb loss behavior of apatite and zircon places constraints on the temperature history of the Apollo 14 breccias and we estimate, from the experimentally determined Pb diffusion constants and an approximation of the original depth of the excavated samples in the Fra Mauro Formation, that the breccias experienced an initial temperature of about 1300–1100 °C, but cooled within the first five to ten years.  相似文献   

18.
New petrography and 40Ar‐39Ar ages have been obtained for 1–3 mm sized rock fragments from Apollo 16 Station 13 soil 63503 (North Ray crater ejecta) and chips from three rocks collected by Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 missions. Selection of these samples was aimed at the old 40Ar‐39Ar ages to understand the early history of the lunar magnetic field and impact flux. Fifteen samples were studied including crustal material, polymict feldspathic fragmental breccias, and impact melts. The impact ages obtained range between approximately 3.3 and 4.3 billion years (Ga). Polymict fragmental breccia 63503,1 exhibits the lowest signs of recrystallization observed and a probable old relic age of 4.547 ± 0.027. The plateau age of 4.293 ± 0.044 Ga obtained for impact melt rock 63503,13 represents the oldest known age for such a lithology. Possibly, this age represents the minimum age for the South Pole‐Aitken (SPA) Basin. In agreement with literature data, these results show that impact ages >3.9 Ga are found in lunar rocks, especially within soil 63503. Impact exhumation of deep‐seated warm crustal material onto the lunar surface is considered to explain the common 4.2 Ga ages obtained for weakly shocked samples from soil 63503 and Apollo 17. This would directly imply that one or more basin‐forming events occurred at that time. Some rock fragments showing none to limited petrologic features indicate thermal annealing. These rocks may have lost Ar while resident within the hot‐ejecta of a large basin. Concurrent with previous studies, these results lead us to advocate for a complex impact flux in the inner solar system during the initial approximately 1.3 Ga.  相似文献   

19.
Shock metamorphic features at the Saarijärvi (D > 2 km) and Söderfjärden (D = 6.5 km) structures in Finland have so far only been studied tentatively, although both are considered to be proven impact structures. This work presents the first detailed universal stage study of planar deformation features (PDFs), feather feature lamellae (FFL), and planar fractures (PFs) in quartz grains from a polymict impact breccia dike from Söderfjärden, and from sedimentary crater‐fill rocks from Saarijärvi. Planar microstructures, particularly PDFs, are very rare and poorly developed or preserved in Saarijärvi, whereas in Söderfjärden they are much more common and well defined. Miller–Bravais indices of the planar microstructures in both Saarijärvi and Söderfjärden are indicative of relatively low‐shock pressure but high shear conditions, only compatible with an impact origin for these structures. Although a Proterozoic age for Saarijärvi cannot be ruled out, the observations of shock features throughout the sedimentary crater‐fill sequence and a brecciated sedimentary dike below the crater floor are more consistent with a Lower Cambrian (or younger) impact age.  相似文献   

20.
Novato, a newly observed fall in the San Francisco Bay area, is a shocked and brecciated L6 ordinary chondrite containing dark and light lithologies. We have investigated the U‐Pb isotope systematics of coarse Cl‐apatite grains of metamorphic origin in Novato with a large geometry ion microprobe. The U‐Pb systematics of Novato apatite reveals an upper intercept age of 4472 ± 31 Ma and lower intercept age of 473 ± 38 Ma. The upper intercept age is within error identical to the U‐Pb apatite age of 4452 ± 21 Ma measured in the Chelyabinsk LL5 chondrite. This age is interpreted to reflect a massive collisional resetting event due to a large impact associated with the peak arrival time at the primordial asteroid belt of ejecta debris from the Moon‐forming giant impact on Earth. The lower intercept age is consistent with the most precisely dated Ar‐Ar ages of 470 ± 6 Ma of shocked L chondrites, and the fossil meteorites and extraterrestrial chromite relicts found in Ordovician limestones with an age of 467.3 ± 1.6 Ma in Sweden and China. The lower intercept age reflects a major disturbance related to the catastrophic disruption of the L chondrite parent body most likely associated with the Gefion asteroid family, which produced an initially intense meteorite bombardment of the Earth in Ordovician period and reset and degassed at least approximately 35% of the L chondrite falls today. We predict that the 470 Ma impact event is likely to be found on the Moon and Mars, if not Mercury.  相似文献   

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