The formation of peak rings in large impact craters

Drilling into Chicxulub's formation The Chicxulub impact crater, known for its link to the demise of the dinosaurs, also provides an opportunity to study rocks from a large impact structure. Large impact craters have “peak rings” that define a complex crater morphology. Morgan et al. looked at rocks from a drilling expedition through the peak rings of the Chicxulub impact crater (see the Perspective by Barton). The drill cores have features consistent with a model that postulates that a single over-heightened central peak collapsed into the multiple-peak-ring structure. The validity of this model has implications for far-ranging subjects, from how giant impacts alter the climate on Earth to the morphology of crater-dominated planetary surfaces. Science, this issue p. 878; see also p. 836 Rock samples from IODP/ICDP Expedition 364 support the dynamic collapse model for the formation of the Chicxulub crater. Large impacts provide a mechanism for resurfacing planets through mixing near-surface rocks with deeper material. Central peaks are formed from the dynamic uplift of rocks during crater formation. As crater size increases, central peaks transition to peak rings. Without samples, debate surrounds the mechanics of peak-ring formation and their depth of origin. Chicxulub is the only known impact structure on Earth with an unequivocal peak ring, but it is buried and only accessible through drilling. Expedition 364 sampled the Chicxulub peak ring, which we found was formed from uplifted, fractured, shocked, felsic basement rocks. The peak-ring rocks are cross-cut by dikes and shear zones and have an unusually low density and seismic velocity. Large impacts therefore generate vertical fluxes and increase porosity in planetary crust.

[1]  D. Kring,et al.  Peak-ring structure and kinematics from a multi-disciplinary study of the Schrödinger impact basin , 2016, Nature Communications.

[2]  J. Head,et al.  The formation of peak-ring basins: Working hypotheses and path forward in using observations to constrain models of impact-basin formation , 2016 .

[3]  U. Riller,et al.  Kinematics of large terrestrial impact crater formation inferred from structural analysis and three-dimensional block modeling of the Vredefort Dome, South Africa , 2015 .

[4]  Gareth S. Collins,et al.  Numerical simulations of impact crater formation with dilatancy , 2014 .

[5]  P. Barton,et al.  GEOPHYSICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE CHICXULUB IMPACT CRATER , 2013 .

[6]  C. Pieters,et al.  Spectral and photogeologic mapping of Schrödinger Basin and implications for post-South Pole-Aitken impact deep subsurface stratigraphy , 2013 .

[7]  P. Renne,et al.  Time Scales of Critical Events around the Cretaceous-paleogene Boundary , 2022 .

[8]  Sami W. Asmar,et al.  The Crust of the Moon as Seen by GRAIL , 2012, Science.

[9]  G. Collins,et al.  The Modification Stage of Crater Formation , 2012 .

[10]  T. Hiroi,et al.  Massive layer of pure anorthosite on the Moon , 2012 .

[11]  G. Osinski,et al.  Shock‐induced changes in density and porosity in shock‐metamorphosed crystalline rocks, Haughton impact structure, Canada , 2011 .

[12]  J. Urrutia‐Fucugauchi,et al.  The Chicxulub multi-ring impact crater, Yucatan carbonate platform, Gulf of Mexico , 2011 .

[13]  Gareth S. Collins,et al.  Full waveform tomographic images of the peak ring at the Chicxulub impact crater , 2011 .

[14]  H. Melosh,et al.  Basin-forming impacts: Reconnaissance modeling , 2010 .

[15]  U. Riller,et al.  Origin of large-volume pseudotachylite in terrestrial impact structures , 2010 .

[16]  J. Head.  Transition from complex craters to multi‐ringed basins on terrestrial planetary bodies: Scale‐dependent role of the expanding melt cavity and progressive interaction with the displaced zone , 2010 .

[17]  Sarah T. Stewart,et al.  Dynamic fault weakening and the formation of large impact craters , 2009 .

[18]  M. Warner,et al.  Mantle deformation beneath the Chicxulub impact crater , 2009 .

[19]  U. Riller,et al.  Generation of fragment-rich pseudotachylite bodies during central uplift formation in the Vredefort impact structure, South Africa , 2009 .

[20]  M. Warner,et al.  Dynamic modeling suggests terrace zone asymmetry in the Chicxulub crater is caused by target heterogeneity , 2008 .

[21]  G. Collins,et al.  Numerical modelling of impact melt production in porous rocks , 2008 .

[22]  M. Pilkington,et al.  Observations and interpretations at Vredefort, Sudbury, and Chicxulub: Towards an empirical model of terrestrial impact basin formation , 2008 .

[23]  M. Ohtake,et al.  A new model of lunar crust: asymmetry in crustal composition and evolution , 2008 .

[24]  M. Warner,et al.  Importance of pre-impact crustal structure for the asymmetry of the Chicxulub impact crater , 2008 .

[25]  D. Schmitt,et al.  In situ seismic measurements in borehole LB‐08A in the Bosumtwi impact structure, Ghana: Preliminary interpretation , 2007 .

[26]  Gareth S. Collins,et al.  A strain-based porosity model for use in hydrocode simulations of impacts and implications for transient crater growth in porous targets , 2006 .

[27]  Gordon R. Osinski,et al.  Tectonics of complex crater formation as revealed by the Haughton impact structure, Devon Island, Canadian High Arctic , 2005 .

[28]  B. Ivanov.  Numerical Modeling of the Largest Terrestrial Meteorite Craters , 2005 .

[29]  P. Vermeesch,et al.  Chicxulub central crater structure: Initial results from physical property measurements and combined velocity and gravity modeling , 2004 .

[30]  G. Hampson,et al.  Stratigraphic and sedimentological observations from seismic data across the Chicxulub impact basin , 2004 .

[31]  Gareth S. Collins,et al.  Modeling damage and deformation in impact simulations , 2004 .

[32]  Boris A. Ivanov,et al.  Numerical modelling of the impact crater depth–diameter dependence in an acoustically fluidized target , 2003 .

[33]  D. Britt,et al.  Asteroid Density, Porosity, and Structure , 2002 .

[34]  M. Warner,et al.  Deep crustal structure of the Chicxulub impact crater , 2001 .

[35]  H. Melosh,et al.  Peak-ring formation in large impact craters: geophysical constraints from Chicxulub , 2000 .

[36]  T. Kenkmann,et al.  Radial transpression ridges: A new structural feature of complex impact craters , 2000 .

[37]  Boris A. Ivanov,et al.  IMPACT CRATER COLLAPSE , 1999 .

[38]  Elisabetta Pierazzo,et al.  Hydrocode simulation of the Chicxulub impact event and the production of climatically active gases , 1998 .

[39]  Mark J. Cintala,et al.  Scaling impact melting and crater dimensions: Implications for the lunar cratering record , 1998 .

[40]  Martin Connors,et al.  Mapping Chicxulub crater structure with gravity and seismic reflection data , 1998, Geological Society, London, Special Publications.

[41]  M. Pilkington,et al.  Size and morphology of the Chicxulub impact crater , 1997, Nature.

[42]  Elisabetta Pierazzo,et al.  A Reevaluation of Impact Melt Production , 1997 .

[43]  B. A. Ivanov,et al.  Implementation of dynamic strength models into 2D hydrocodes : Applications for atmospheric breakup and impact cratering , 1997 .

[44]  Falko Langenhorst,et al.  Shock metamorphism of quartz in nature and experiment: II. Significance in geoscience* , 1996 .

[45]  Falko Langenhorst,et al.  Shock experiments on pre-heated α- and β-quartz: I. Optical and density data , 1994 .

[46]  Mark Pilkington,et al.  Gravity and magnetic field modeling and structure of the Chicxulub Crater, Mexico , 1994 .

[47]  H. J. Melosh,et al.  Dynamic fragmentation in impacts: Hydrocode simulation of laboratory impacts , 1992 .

[48]  W. McKinnon,et al.  Large impact craters and basins on Venus, with implications for ring mechanics on the terrestrial planets , 1992 .

[49]  H. Melosh,et al.  The origin of the moon and the single-impact hypothesis III. , 1991, Icarus.

[50]  S. Runcorn.  Book Review: Impact and Explosion Cratering. Proceedings of the Symposium on Planetary Cratering Mechanics. Pergamon Press, 1977, 1299 pp., US $150.00, £98.00, ISBN 0-08-022050-9 , 1984 .

[51]  R. Grieve,et al.  Volumetric analysis of complex lunar craters: Implications for basin ring formation , 1982 .

[52]  R. Grieve.  Impact cratering , 1981, Nature.

[53]  C. W. Hirt,et al.  SALE: a simplified ALE computer program for fluid flow at all speeds , 1980 .

[54]  J. Murray.  Oscillating peak model of basin and crater formation , 1980 .

[55]  H. Jay Melosh,et al.  Acoustic fluidization: A new geologic process? , 1979 .

[56]  C. Williams.  The Ocean Basins and Margins, volume 4A. The eastern Mediterranean A. E. M. Nairn, W. H. Kanes & F. G. Stehli (editors) Plenum Press, New York, 1977 503 pages , 1979 .

[57]  W. McKinnon.  An investigation into the role of plastic failure in crater modification , 1978 .

[58]  E. L. Ramos..  Geological Summary of the Yucatan Peninsula , 1975 .

[59]  K. N. Dollman,et al.  - 1 , 1743 .