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Evidence for a late Triassic multiple impact event on Earth

Nature volume 392, pages 171–173 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Evidence for the collision of fragmented comets or asteroids with some of the larger (jovian) planets and their moons is now well established following the dramatic impact of the disrupted comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 with Jupiter in 1994 (ref. 1). Collisions by fragmented objects result in multiple impacts that can lead to the formation of linear crater chains, or catenae, on planetary surfaces2. Here we present evidence for a multiple impact event that occurred on Earth. Five terrestrial impact structures have been found to possess comparable ages (∼214 Myr), coincident with the Norian stage of the Triassic period. These craters are Rochechouart (France), Manicouagan and Saint Martin (Canada), Obolon' (Ukraine) and Red Wing (USA). When these impact structures are plotted on a tectonic reconstruction of the North American and Eurasian plates for 214 Myr before present, the three largest structures (Rochechouart, Manicouagan and Saint Martin) are co-latitudinal at 22.8° (within 1.2°, ∼110 km), and span 43.5° of palaeolongitude. These structures may thus represent the remains of a crater chain at least 4,462 km long. The Obolon' and Red Wing craters, on the other hand, lie on great circles of identical declination with Rochechouart and Saint Martin, respectively. We therefore suggest that the five impact structures were formed at the same time (within hours) during a multiple impact event caused by a fragmented comet or asteroid colliding with Earth.

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Figure 1: Radiometric and biostratigraphic age data for the five impact structures plotted for the late Triassic to early Jurassic using the timescale of Gradstein etal.22.
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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Benton and J. Melosh for discussions and reviews. This work was supported by NSERC (Canada) and the Open University (UK) grants to J.G.S. and S.P.K., respectively. D.B.R. acknowledges industrial support for the Palaeogeographic Atlas Project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, University of New Brunswick, E3B 5A3, Fredericton, Canada

    John G. Spray

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, The Open University, MK7 6AA, Milton Keynes, UK

    Simon P. Kelley

  3. Department of Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, 60637, Illinois, USA

    David B. Rowley

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Correspondence to John G. Spray.

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Spray, J., Kelley, S. & Rowley, D. Evidence for a late Triassic multiple impact event on Earth. Nature 392, 171–173 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/32397

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