AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE SUSPECTED METEORITE IMPACT SITES OF TENNESSEE. 2: THE HOWELL STRUCTURE

Abstract

The Howell Structure is a suspected meteorite impact site in Tennessee, USA, and came to the attention of geologists during the 1930s. It was first investigated by Born and Wilson in 1937, and the few subsequent investigations that have occurred at this extensively eroded site have revealed the presence of breccias and the possible existence of shatter cones. However, cores drilled in the 1960s have recently been analyzed, and these provide evidence of shock metamorphism, suggesting that the Howell Structure is the eroded scar of a meteorite impact.