Chronology and Element Distribution of Shock-deformed Regions in Zircon from the Chicxulub Impact Structure

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhao Jiawei ◽  
Xiao Long ◽  
He Qi ◽  
Xiao Zhiyong
Keyword(s):  
Element Distribution ◽  
Impact Structure ◽  
Mapping Data ◽  
Critical Question ◽  
Shock Condition ◽  
Post Shock ◽  
Extraterrestrial Materials ◽  
Element Migration ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Chicxulub Impact

<p>Zircon is ubiquitously used to nail down the geological events for both terrestrial and extraterrestrial materials. The U-Pb system and other trace elements in zircon plausibly remain stable and robust in normal metamorphic processes on Earth, while under the extremely shock condition, trace element behaviors in zircon could be unstable and differential due to the generated extraordinary deformations and thermal annealing. Since the systematic deformations in zircon recovered from the Chicxulub impact structure, such as planar fractures (PFs), reidite and granular zircon, the phenomenon of partially or completely age resetting are discovered in zircons from impact melt, breccia, ejecta and meteorites. In effect, element migration during the shock or post-shock setting is the most critical question, which may yield age resetting in nature. The enrichment of elements in shock-deformed zircon regions (PFs and reidite) are revealed, such as Y, Al, Ca, U, Th and Pb. Due to the limitation of resolution and lack of typical shock deformations, the straightforward correlations among deformations, element migration and chronology in zircon by traditional means have not been illustrated clearly so far. Here we systematically analyzed the correlations between shock deformations (from low to high degree: PFs, reidite and granular zircon) and element distribution in zircon by high-resolution Nano-SIMS mapping data. This can be used to interpret the chronology of shock products both from terrestrial and extraterrestrial bodies.</p>

3D gravity modelling of the Chicxulub impact structure

2001 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 599-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg Ebbing ◽  
Peter Janle ◽  
Jannis Koulouris ◽  
Bernd Milkereit
Keyword(s):  
Impact Structure ◽  
Gravity Modelling ◽  
3D Gravity ◽  
Chicxulub Impact

scholarly journals Ocean resurge-induced impact melt dynamics on the peak-ring of the Chicxulub impact structure, Mexico

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix M. Schulte ◽  
◽  
Axel Wittmann ◽  
Stefan Jung ◽  
Joanna V. Morgan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Impact Structure ◽  
Physical Processes ◽  
Hydrothermal Conditions ◽  
Chemical Examination ◽  
Impact Melt ◽  
Target Rock ◽  
Single Process ◽  
Chicxulub Impact ◽  
The Impact

AbstractCore from Hole M0077 from IODP/ICDP Expedition 364 provides unprecedented evidence for the physical processes in effect during the interaction of impact melt with rock-debris-laden seawater, following a large meteorite impact into waters of the Yucatán shelf. Evidence for this interaction is based on petrographic, microstructural and chemical examination of the 46.37-m-thick impact melt rock sequence, which overlies shocked granitoid target rock of the peak ring of the Chicxulub impact structure. The melt rock sequence consists of two visually distinct phases, one is black and the other is green in colour. The black phase is aphanitic and trachyandesitic in composition and similar to melt rock from other sites within the impact structure. The green phase consists chiefly of clay minerals and sparitic calcite, which likely formed from a solidified water–rock debris mixture under hydrothermal conditions. We suggest that the layering and internal structure of the melt rock sequence resulted from a single process, i.e., violent contact of initially superheated silicate impact melt with the ocean resurge-induced water–rock mixture overriding the impact melt. Differences in density, temperature, viscosity, and velocity of this mixture and impact melt triggered Kelvin–Helmholtz and Rayleigh–Taylor instabilities at their phase boundary. As a consequence, shearing at the boundary perturbed and, thus, mingled both immiscible phases, and was accompanied by phreatomagmatic processes. These processes led to the brecciation at the top of the impact melt rock sequence. Quenching of this breccia by the seawater prevented reworking of the solidified breccia layers upon subsequent deposition of suevite. Solid-state deformation, notably in the uppermost brecciated impact melt rock layers, attests to long-term gravitational settling of the peak ring.

scholarly journals The Mesoproterozoic Stac Fada Member, NW Scotland: an impact origin confirmed but refined

2020 ◽  
Vol 178 (1) ◽  
pp. jgs2020-056
Author(s):  
G. R. Osinski ◽  
L. Ferrière ◽  
P. J. A. Hill ◽  
A. R. Prave ◽  
L. J. Preston ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Impact Structure ◽  
Gravity Flows ◽  
Impact Ejecta ◽  
Ejecta Blanket ◽  
Chicxulub Impact ◽  
Melted Material ◽  
Impact Origin ◽  
Primary Impact

The origin of the Stac Fada Member has been debated for decades with several early hypotheses being proposed, but all invoking some connection to volcanic activity. In 2008, the discovery of shocked quartz led to the hypothesis that the Stac Fada Member represents part the continuous ejecta blanket of a meteorite impact crater, the location of which was, and remains, unknown. In this paper, we confirm the presence of shock-metamorphosed and -melted material in the Stac Fada Member; however, we also show that its properties are unlike any other confirmed and well documented proximal impact ejecta deposits on Earth. Instead, the properties of the Stac Fada Member are most similar to the Onaping Formation of the Sudbury impact structure (Canada) and impact melt-bearing breccias from the Chicxulub impact structure (Mexico). We thus propose that, like the Sudbury and Chicxulub deposits, Melt Fuel Coolant Interactions – akin to what occur during phreatomagmatic volcanic eruptions – played a fundamental role in the origin of the Stac Fada Member. We conclude that these rocks are not primary impact ejecta but instead were deposited beyond the extent of the continuous ejecta blanket as high-energy ground-hugging sediment gravity flows.

Preliminary results from a passive seismic array over the Chicxulub impact structure in Mexico

1998 ◽  
Vol 140 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. K. H. Maguire ◽  
G. D. Mackenzie ◽  
P. Denton ◽  
A. Trejo ◽  
R. Kind ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Array ◽  
Impact Structure ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Passive Seismic ◽  
Chicxulub Impact

scholarly journals Major and trace element compositions of melt particles and associated phases from the Yaxcopoil-1 drill core, Chicxulub impact structure, Mexico

2006 ◽  
Vol 41 (9) ◽  
pp. 1361-1379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin G. TUCHSCHERER ◽  
W. Uwe REIMOLD ◽  
Roger L. GIBSON ◽  
Deon de BRUIN ◽  
Andreas SPÄTH
Keyword(s):  
Trace Element ◽  
Drill Core ◽  
Impact Structure ◽  
Chicxulub Impact

scholarly journals Evidence of Carboniferous arc magmatism preserved in the Chicxulub impact structure

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine H. Ross ◽  
Daniel F. Stockli ◽  
Cornelia Rasmussen ◽  
Sean P.S. Gulick ◽  
Sietze J. de Graaff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inductively Coupled Plasma ◽  
Impact Structure ◽  
Continuous Section ◽  
Northern Margin ◽  
Scientific Drilling ◽  
Inductively Coupled ◽  
Basement Rocks ◽  
Continental Arc ◽  
Nw Gondwana ◽  
Chicxulub Impact

Determining the nature and age of the 200-km-wide Chicxulub impact target rock is an essential step in advancing our understanding of the Maya Block basement. Few age constraints exist for the northern Maya Block crust, specifically the basement underlying the 66 Ma, 200 km-wide Chicxulub impact structure. The International Ocean Discovery Program-International Continental Scientific Drilling Program Expedition 364 core recovered a continuous section of basement rocks from the Chicxulub target rocks, which provides a unique opportunity to illuminate the pre-impact tectonic evolution of a terrane key to the development of the Gulf of Mexico. Sparse published ages for the Maya Block point to Mesoproterozoic, Ediacaran, Ordovician to Devonian crust are consistent with plate reconstruction models. In contrast, granitic basement recovered from the Chicxulub peak ring during Expedition 364 yielded new zircon U-Pb laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) concordant dates clustering around 334 ± 2.3 Ma. Zircon rare earth element (REE) chemistry is consistent with the granitoids having formed in a continental arc setting. Inherited zircon grains fall into three groups: 400−435 Ma, 500−635 Ma, and 940−1400 Ma, which are consistent with the incorporation of Peri-Gondwanan, Pan-African, and Grenvillian crust, respectively. Carboniferous U-Pb ages, trace element compositions, and inherited zircon grains indicate a pre-collisional continental volcanic arc located along the Maya Block’s northern margin before NW Gondwana collided with Laurentia. The existence of a continental arc along NW Gondwana suggests southward-directed subduction of Rheic oceanic crust beneath the Maya Block and is similar to evidence for a continental arc along the northern margin of Gondwana that is documented in the Suwannee terrane, Florida, USA, and Coahuila Block of NE México.

scholarly journals Supplemental Material: New insights into the formation and emplacement of impact melt rocks within the Chicxulub impact structure, following the 2016 IODP-ICDP Expedition 364

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sietze J. de Graaff ◽  
et al.
Keyword(s):  
Reference Materials ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Impact Structure ◽  
Impact Melt ◽  
Chicxulub Impact

Appendix S1, containing all geochemical data and specific core depths of all samples and geochemical results for geologic reference materials presented in the article. Figures S1–S3, containing thinsection photographs of representative pre-impact lithologies.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document