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Importance of pre-impact crustal structure for the asymmetry of the Chicxulub impact crater

Nature Geoscience volume 1, pages 131–135 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Impact craters are observed on the surfaces of all rocky planets and satellites in our Solar System1; some impacts on Earth, such as the Cretaceous/Tertiary one that formed the Chicxulub impact crater2,3, have been implicated in mass extinctions4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12. The direction and angle of the impact—or its trajectory—is an important determinant of the severity of the consequent environmental damage, both in the downrange direction (direction bolide travels) and in the amount of material that enters the plume of material vaporized on impact2,13,14,15. The trajectory of the Chicxulub impact has previously been inferred largely from asymmetries in the gravity anomalies over the crater2,3. Here, we use seismic data to image the Chicxulub crater in three dimensions and demonstrate that the strong asymmetry of its subsurface correlates with significant pre-existing undulations on the end-Cretaceous continental shelf that was the site of this impact. These results suggest that for rocky planets, geological and geomorphological heterogeneities at the target site may play an important role in determining impact crater structure, in addition to impact trajectories. In those cases where heterogeneous targets are inferred, deciphering impact trajectories from final crater geometries alone may be difficult and require further data such as the distribution of ejecta.

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Figure 1: Location figure and Bouguer gravity map.
Figure 2: Interpreted line drawings of seismic profiles across the Chicxulub impact crater.
Figure 3: Evidence for pre-existing Cretaceous basin.
Figure 4: Stages of crater formation into the asymmetric pre-impact stratigraphy.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Captain and Crew of the R/V Maurice Ewing for a successful cruise. Appreciation is owed to several Mexican and US colleagues onboard and on land for support during the experiment. Study financially supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF-OCE 0221101) and the Natural Environment Research Council. Manuscript support provided by Jackson School of Geosciences and Geology Foundation at UT Austin. Review by A. Wittman improved the manuscript. UTIG Contribution No. 1889 and IARC Contribution No. 2007-0951.

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Author notes

  1. Matthew McDonald

    Present address: Present address: Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming 82071, USA,

  2. Zulmacristina F. Pearson & Peggy M. Vermeesch

    Present address: Present address: Institute for Geophysics, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, J.J. Pickle Research Campus, Austin, Texas 78758, USA,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Geophysics, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, J.J. Pickle Research Campus, Austin, Texas 78758, USA

    Sean P. S. Gulick, Gail L. Christeson & Matthew McDonald

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Bullard Laboratories, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK

    Penny J. Barton & Anusha Surendra

  3. Department of Earth Science and Engineering, South Kensington Campus, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK

    Joanna V. Morgan, Peggy M. Vermeesch & Mike R. Warner

  4. Instituto de Geofisica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Del Coyoacán, C.P. 04510, México

    Keren Mendoza-Cervantes & Jaime Urrutia-Fucugauchi

  5. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Natural Sciences Facility, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775, USA

    Zulmacristina F. Pearson

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Contributions

Contributions include project planning and leadership by S.P.S.G., P.J.B., G.L.C., J.V.M., J.U.-F. and M.R.W., data acquisition by all authors, data processing by S.P.S.G., P.J.B., M.M., G.L.C. and K.M.-C. and interpretation by S.P.S.G., M.M., K.M.-C. and Z.F.P.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Sean P. S. Gulick, Matthew McDonald, Zulmacristina F. Pearson or Peggy M. Vermeesch.

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Gulick, S., Barton, P., Christeson, G. et al. Importance of pre-impact crustal structure for the asymmetry of the Chicxulub impact crater. Nature Geosci 1, 131–135 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo103

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