Meteorite Impact Structure Research Articles

The carbon crater: Comparing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions to historical planetary events

Equilibrium climate sensitivity modeling relies heavily on paleoclimate records that were affected by meteorite impacts and volcanic explosions. This paper conducts a thought experiment by re-assembling known data and theories to shed new light on anthropogenic carbon waste. Anthropogenic activity, meteorite impacts and volcanic explosions all extract material from the Earth’s crust and deposit it in the atmosphere. This thought experiment tests if the mass of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions from 1851 to 2021 is comparable to the mass of atmospheric emissions from historical planetary events. Approximately 3.60 trillion tons of anthropogenic carbon dioxide equivalents are converted into volume and then transformed into the shape of a meteorite impact structure named the “Carbon Crater.” The 35 km crater (bounded by 34%–68% confidence intervals of 25–45 km) would rank 23rd on the list of known impact structures. The 2.6 km projectile required to create the Crater would be a 10 on the 1–10 Torino hazard scale described as “. . .capable of causing global climatic catastrophe. . .” The estimated re-occurrence interval for a projectile of this size is 5.3 million years. An interval of this time in Earth’s recent history predates homo sapiens. The Crater’s volume is exponentially larger than the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa and ranks as an 8 (“mega-colossal”) on the 0–8 Volcanic Explosivity Index. The thought experiment indicates that the Carbon Crater’s scale is comparable with large historical biospheric events. These results likely confer few direct implications for the study of the paleoclimate in climate modeling but might change conceptual understandings of atmospheric human waste. Additional empirical research is required to understand the potential impact of the Carbon Crater on conceptual change.

Stratigraphic age of the Ordovician sedimentary succession in Lumparn Bay, Åland Islands, Finland

ABSTRACT The depression of the ancient Lumparn meteorite impact structure is partly infilled by Cambrian and Ordovician sediments, lying nowadays below the seawater. The Ordovician carbonate succession at this site, recognised through erratic boulders and by the drilling project in the late 1950s, is of particular interest due to its isolated and distant location from other areas with Ordovician sediments in the Baltoscandian Palaeobasin. In this study, we present new data on ostracod biostratigraphy and stable carbon isotope chemostratigraphy obtained from three old drillcores. Comparison of ostracod distribution with sections in Estonia generally supports the previous interpretations of a Darriwilian and Sandbian age for the lowermost Tranvik Limestone (which we propose renaming the “orthoceratite limestone” in the Åland Islands area). The uppermost Östersjö Limestone spans almost the entire Katian age. We also observe the global MDICE and GICE carbon isotopic excursions, as well as Katian Rakvere and Saunja excursions, within the Lumparn succession. The Ordovician succession in Lumparn Bay is facially resembling the Estonian Shelf facies of the Baltoscandian Palaeobasin.

Summanen structure: Further geological and geophysical evidence of a meteorite impact event in Central Finland

AbstractThe Summanen structure is located in Central Finland and is one of Finland's 12 known meteorite impact structures. In 2017, the discovery of Summanen was based on numerous shatter cone boulders with planar deformation features (PDFs) and a circular electromagnetic anomaly, which is 2.6 km in diameter. The site was revisited in 2020 and 2022, and shatter cone‐bearing outcrops were discovered. PDFs and feather features were identified in samples from these outcrops. A total of 38 PDF sets in 27 quartz grains resulted in rational crystallographic orientations concentrating on {104}, {103}, {102}, and {112}, implying shock pressures of 2–20 GPa. Gravity measurements were taken, and the electrical conductivity of the structure was studied. The gravimetric results revealed a circular negative anomaly of about 4 km in diameter, with an amplitude of −3.5 mGal. Excluding the gravitational effect of water and Quaternary sediments reduces the anomaly to −1.6 mGal. A bowl‐shaped conductive layer, likely containing relict saline water in the impact‐fractured bedrock, was identified to a depth of 240 m. Topographic and bathymetric data were combined to determine the impact's effect and interpret the level of erosion. Cobbles of sedimentary sand‐ and siltstones were found on the coastline of Lake Summanen. Based on their similarity to those found in the Söderfjärden impact crater with a Cambrian age, it is likely that these rocks and post‐impact infill are also of a similar age.

Keurusselkä impact structure, Finland—Overview, new observations, and renewed interpretation of the size

AbstractThe Keurusselkä structure is one of Finland's 12 meteorite impact structures—one of the world's oldest (1150 ± 10 Ma) and the largest of its kind in Finland. Findings of numerous well‐formed shatter cones in a wide area have helped define and prove Keurusselkä's impact origin. Keurusselkä is deeply eroded, making estimating its size challenging. Thus, various size ranges are based on the distribution of shatter cones. This study provides an overview of the earlier published studies in light of the unpublished data resulting from 2003 to 2019 field surveys. Two shatter cone outcrops 15 km from each other were sampled during a field survey in 2019. Thin section samples from these sites were studied with a polarizing microscope, and shock metamorphic features were identified and measured with the universal stage. We also compared topographic and bathymetric Lidar (light detection and ranging) data with the existing geophysical data and shatter cone occurrences. In situ outcrops—Metsomäki 9.6 km toward the W and Martinniemi 5.7 km toward SE from the crater's center—delimit the maximum radius of shatter cones found so far. Studies resulted in planar fractures parallel to (0001) in Metsomäki shatter cones. We determine the size of 37.5 km as the apparent diameter of the Keurusselkä impact structure, whereas the 25 km in diameter semicircular feature represents faulted rim structures.

Nova Colinas, Maranhão State: A newly confirmed, complex impact structure in Brazil

AbstractThe Nova Colinas structure is an approximately 7 km wide, nearly circular feature centered at 07°09′33″S/46°06′30″W in Nova Colinas municipality in southwestern Maranhão State, Brazil. The area has been investigated for 40 yr and it has been suggested repeatedly that the structure could be of impact origin—without proof having been furnished. Magnetic anomaly maps depict the structure clearly with a strong, positive magnetic anomaly over the apparent rim zone. The central area is characterized by significant positive K and Th radiometric anomalies. Fieldwork showed that the structure has annular features along the outside and some prominent, structurally dissected hills in the interior. Thirty‐three arenite samples were collected for petrographic analysis, mostly from within the structure. Microdeformation, in the form of cataclasis; concussion fractures related to compaction, and presence of planar fractures, feather features, and planar deformation features in quartz are reported. Three samples with a multitude of quartz grains with these microdeformations were analyzed by universal stage to determine the crystallographic orientations of planar fractures and planar deformation features. The results provide robust evidence that these microdeformation features represent shock metamorphism, with low (approximately 5–10 GPa) to moderate (10–16 and 10–20 GPa) shock levels. Thus, the Nova Colinas structure is now confirmed as a bona fide meteorite impact structure. The structure is moderately eroded, as shown by the absence of stronger shock deformation. The still limited available structural geological field evidence, paired with remote sensing and geophysical data, indicates that the innermost part of the structure may have a sizable remnant of a central uplift. The Nova Colinas impact age is only poorly constrained from stratigraphic inference to an upper limit of about 200–250 Ma.

Late Ediacaran organic microfossils from Finland

AbstractHere we present a detailed accounting of organic microfossils from late Ediacaran sediments of Finland, from the island of Hailuoto (northwest Finnish coast), and the Saarijärvi meteorite impact structure (~170 km northeast of Hailuoto, mainland Finland). Fossils were recovered from fine-grained thermally immature mudstones and siltstones and are preserved in exquisite detail. The majority of recovered forms are sourced from filamentous prokaryotic and protistan-grade organisms forming interwoven microbial mats. Flattened Nostoc-ball-like masses of bundled Siphonophycus filaments are abundant, alongside Rugosoopsis and Palaeolyngbya of probable cyanobacterial origin. Acritarchs include Chuaria, Leiosphaeridia, Symplassosphaeridium and Synsphaeridium. Significantly, rare spine-shaped sclerites of bilaterian origin were recovered, providing new evidence for a nascent bilaterian fauna in the terminal Ediacaran. These findings offer a direct body-fossil insight into Ediacaran mat-forming microbial communities, and demonstrate that alongside trace fossils, detection of a bilaterian fauna prior to the Cambrian might also be sought among the emerging record of small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs).

Crustal Velocity Variations and Constraints on Material Properties in the Charlevoix Seismic Zone, Eastern Canada

AbstractCrustal velocity variation within impact‐related seismic zones is commonly attributed to factors such as the presence of dense fracture networks, fluid pressure change, and compositional variations. In this study, we combine seismic tomography, rock physics analysis, and gravity anomaly modeling to quantitatively investigate the mechanisms that influence crustal velocity heterogeneities in the Charlevoix Seismic Zone (CSZ), the most active seismic zone in eastern Canada. Earthquakes in the CSZ align in two broad NE‐SW trending clusters, possibly due to the reactivation of St. Lawrence paleorift faults. Within the meteorite impact structure, earthquakes are diffusely distributed, and ubiquitous lower velocity volumes have been attributed to crustal damage from tectonic inheritance exacerbated by the meteorite impact. The Bouguer gravity anomaly contrast across the St. Lawrence River is due to density disparities between the Grenville Province on the north shore and the Appalachians on the south shore. We find a higher velocity region northeast of the impact structure that does not exhibit an observable gravity anomaly, which suggests the co‐existence of rock types of comparable densities but different elastic moduli (e.g., anorthosite and charnockite). Outside the impact structure, compositional variations control velocity changes, whereas inside the impact structure, velocity variations can be explained by porosity enhancement of up to 10% by low (0.1) aspect‐ratio cracks. Our results suggest that intense fracturing and compositional alteration, rather than pore pressure change, have the primary control on seismic velocity variations, and consequently, earthquake processes in the CSZ.

Petalite postdating spodumene in pegmatite as a consequence of the ~2.02 Ga meteorite impact in the Vredefort structure, southern Africa

Rare-element granitic pegmatites enriched in lithium are economically important hosts for the lithium aluminosilicates, spodumene and petalite. Most spodumene and petalite crystallize from the pegmatite melt, depending on pressure and temperature. This paper reports the rare occurrence of petalite postdating the subsolidus stage in spodumene pegmatites within the ~2.02 Ga Vredefort impact structure, the largest, oldest and most deeply eroded meteorite impact structure currently known on Earth. The studied spodumene-bearing pegmatites postdate the deformation fabric in the surrounding amphibolites of the granitoid-greenstone terrane. Impact-related veins of fragment-rich pseudotachylites cut across the pegmatites. Spodumene, albite and quartz constitute the primary mineral assemblage of the pegmatites. Muscovite is late magmatic and contains inclusions of spodumene and albite. During the subsolidus stage, K-feldspar replaced spodumene and albite during pervasive metasomatic alteration. Samples collected closer to the pseudotachylites show reaction textures between spodumene and quartz without the involvement of muscovite. Raman spectroscopy and microprobe analyses show that the reaction textures consist of quartz and petalite. Unlike spodumene, petalite does not show a replacement by K-feldspar. The 40Ar/39Ar muscovite age of 2027 ± 8 Ma coincides with the timing of the meteorite impact and documents its effect on the spodumene pegmatites. We suggest that the formation of petalite after spodumene was related to heating, which was generated in the target rocks by the post-shock thermal event. Thus, the unique conditions associated with the meteorite impact can not only result in the formation of rare minerals in the target rocks, but can also account for rare scenarios resulting in phases that would not otherwise form in nature.

Precise radiometric age establishes Yarrabubba, Western Australia, as Earth\u2019s oldest recognised meteorite impact structure

The ~70 km-diameter Yarrabubba impact structure in Western Australia is regarded as among Earth’s oldest, but has hitherto lacked precise age constraints. Here we present U–Pb ages for impact-driven shock-recrystallised accessory minerals. Shock-recrystallised monazite yields a precise impact age of 2229 ± 5 Ma, coeval with shock-reset zircon. This result establishes Yarrabubba as the oldest recognised meteorite impact structure on Earth, extending the terrestrial cratering record back >200 million years. The age of Yarrabubba coincides, within uncertainty, with temporal constraint for the youngest Palaeoproterozoic glacial deposits, the Rietfontein diamictite in South Africa. Numerical impact simulations indicate that a 70 km-diameter crater into a continental glacier could release between 8.7 × 1013 to 5.0 × 1015 kg of H2O vapour instantaneously into the atmosphere. These results provide new estimates of impact-produced H2O vapour abundances for models investigating termination of the Paleoproterozoic glaciations, and highlight the possible role of impact cratering in modifying Earth’s climate.

Polarimetric SAR Signatures for Characterizing Geological Units in the Canadian Arctic

This study investigates the polarimetric radar signatures of geological units in the Canadian Arctic to characterize their physical surface properties. It focuses on the Tunnunik and Haughton meteorite impact structures using RADARSAT-2 quad polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. The geological units show different three-dimensional (3-D) polarimetric SAR signature plots (i.e., radar backscattering responses according to the orientation and the ellipticity of a polarization state). We analyzed the quantitative relationship between the polarimetric SAR signatures of the geological units and their surface roughness. The pedestal height and the standard deviation of linear copolarization responses (SDLP) were calculated from the 3-D copolarization power signature plot, and then compared to in situ surface roughness measurements derived from LiDAR scanned high-resolution surface topography. The results show that the pedestal height has a positive correlation coefficient of ∼0.6 with surface roughness, while the SDLP has a negative correlation coefficient of ∼0.8 with surface roughness. The variation between the different polarization responses is highly dependent on the surface roughness of the geological units. The SDLP is thus suggested as a promising parameter to characterize surface roughness, in addition to the pedestal height that has been commonly used.

Special issue of MAPS in honor of Wolf Uwe Reimold on occasion of his 65th birthday

Special issue of <i>MAPS</i> in honor of Wolf Uwe Reimold on occasion of his 65th birthday

Geochemical and petrographic variations in pseudotachylyte along the Outer Hebrides Fault Zone, Scotland

The islands of the Outer Hebrides, Scotland host a c. 200 km long fault zone that was active between 1100 and 250 Ma, during which time a belt of fault rock several kilometres wide was created. The fault zone hosts crush breccias, phyllonite, mylonite and pseudotachylyte. The latter unit is often found in major fault zones and within meteorite impact structures. Although pseudotachylyte is widely believed to be a product of frictional melting within a fault zone, there is still controversy over the specific mechanisms of formation. Pseudotachylyte was collected from the southern block of the Outer Hebrides Fault Zone. A geochemical mixing model was applied to reconstruct the geochemistry of the pseudotachylyte matrix using the locally available lithologies. The results show that the pseudotachylyte could have been derived from the local country rock, although some mixing was necessary to provide accurate reconstructions, suggesting a degree of mixing between melts derived from different protoliths. Petrographic observations identified additional characteristics of melt transportation, including transported clasts, aligned fragments, melt segregation and injection of the melt into tensile fractures. The latter probably served as the transport mechanism, drawing melt into the low-pressure tensile structures that developed adjacent to the melt-forming zones within the fault plane. Supplementary Material : Sample site co-ordinates and electron microprobe settings are available at: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4567931

Documentation of shock features in impactites from the Dhala impact structure, India

AbstractThe fundamental approach for the confirmation of any terrestrial meteorite impact structure is the identification of diagnostic shock metamorphic features, together with the physical and chemical characterization of impactites and target lithologies. However, for many of the approximately 200 confirmed impact structures known on Earth to date, multiple scale‐independent tell‐tale impact signatures have not been recorded. Especially some of the pre‐Paleozoic impact structures reported so far have yielded limited shock diagnostic evidence. The rocks of the Dhala structure in India, a deeply eroded Paleoproterozoic impact structure, exhibit a range of diagnostic shock features, and there is even evidence for traces of the impactor. This study provides a detailed look at shocked samples from the Dhala structure, and the shock metamorphic evidence recorded within them. It also includes a first report of shatter cones that form in the shock pressure range from ~2 to 30 GPa, data on feather features (FFs), crystallographic indexing of planar deformation features, first‐ever electron backscatter diffraction data for ballen quartz, and further analysis of shocked zircon. The discovery of FFs in quartz from a sample of the MCB‐10 drill core (497.50 m depth) provides a comparatively lower estimate of shock pressure (~7–10 GPa), whereas melting of a basement granitoid infers at least 50–60 GPa shock pressure. Thus, the Dhala impactites register a strongly heterogeneous shock pressure distribution between &lt;2 and &gt;60 GPa. The present comprehensive review of impact effects should lay to rest the nonimpact genesis of the Dhala structure proposed by some earlier workers from India.

Rock fluidization during peak-ring formation of large impact structures.

Large meteorite impact structures on the terrestrial bodies of the Solar System contain pronounced topographic rings, which emerged from uplifted target (crustal) rocks within minutes of impact. To flow rapidly over large distances, these target rocks must have weakened drastically, but they subsequently regained sufficient strength to build and sustain topographic rings. The mechanisms of rock deformation that accomplish such extreme change in mechanical behaviour during cratering are largely unknown and have been debated for decades. Recent drilling of the approximately 200-km-diameter Chicxulub impact structure in Mexico has produced a record of brittle and viscous deformation within its peak-ring rocks. Here we show how catastrophic rock weakening upon impact is followed by an increase in rock strength that culminated in the formation of the peak ring during cratering. The observations point to quasi-continuous rock flow and hence acoustic fluidization as the dominant physical process controlling initial cratering, followed by increasingly localized faulting.

A story told by calcareous nannofossils—the timing and course of an Eocene meteorite impact in central Jordan

A circular structure, 5.5 km in diameter, in central eastern Jordan has been interpreted as a large meteorite impact structure. The age of the Waqf As Suwwan impact is poorly constrained. By examining calcareous nannofossils from the sediments exposed in this structure, an age model of the timing of the event has been obtained. A total of 81 smear slides from two cores (BH-1, BH-2) penetrating the sediments of the central structure were prepared in order to obtain a biostratigraphic age for the post-impact sediments. The calcareous nannofossils assign sediments below the breccias of the core BH-1 an age of late Campanian to late Maastrichtian and a mixture of late Maastrichtian to early Eocene ages in the breccia horizon, while core BH-2 is of early Maastrichtian to late Maastrichtian age. The upper part of the sediments, removed in from adjacent area, consists of breccia components. The presences of calcareous nannofossil marker assemblages suggest that these components were derived from two different sources: a Cretaceous and a Paleocene-Early Eocene one. The deposition of the breccia resulted from gravitational collapse of water-saturated sediments in two stages; the earlier of these was more intensive than the latter. The stratigraphic framework and the presence of reworked Cretaceous and Paleocene calcareous nannofossils within Paleogene nannofossil Zone NP12/NP13 suggests an early Eocene age for the impact. The upper part of the Cretaceous sediments was thermally altered by the impact causing partial or complete dissolution of the calcareous nannofossils. This caused overgrowth for the more resistant species, while others were dissolved.

TAPHONOMY AND BIOLOGICAL AFFINITY OF THREE-DIMENSIONALLY PHOSPHATIZED BROMALITES FROM THE MIDDLE ORDOVICIAN WINNESHIEK LAGERSTÄTTE, NORTHEASTERN IOWA, USA

The Winneshiek Lagerstatte occurs within an Ordovician meteorite impact structure beneath part of the city of Decorah, Iowa. The Lagerstatte has yielded an atypical marine fauna including phyllocarid crustaceans, eurypterids, conodonts, linguloid brachiopods, and jawless fish. Associated with these taxa are vermiform fossils: elongate, morphologically variable, and often three-dimensionally preserved bromalites of uncertain organisms. The preservational state of these bromalites is significantly different from that of other components of the Winneshiek biota. Here we present a compositional and microstructural analysis of the vermiform fossils in order to elucidate their taphonomy and biological affinities. The majority of studied specimens are preserved three-dimensionally and composed of calcium phosphate, while a minority are preserved as carbonaceous compressions. Winneshiek bromalites exhibit important similarities to examples documented from both older and younger sediments. They provide independent evidence of predation in the Winneshiek assemblage during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event.

Julius Kaljuvee, Ivan Reinwald, and Estonian pioneering ideas on meteorite impacts and cosmic neocatastrophism in the early 20th century

The article comprehensively presents little known Estonian contribution to the recognition of first meteorite impact structures in Europe, related to works of Julius Kaljuvee (Kalkun; 1869–1940) and Ivan Reinwald (Reinwaldt; 1878–1941). As an active educator specialized in geoscience, Kaljuvee was the first to hypothesize in 1922 that Kaali lake cirque in Saaremaa Island, Estonia, was created by meteorite impact. Thanks to mining engineer Reinwald, this assumption was accepted since 1928 due to the exhaustive field and borehole works of the latter (also as a result of exploration by several German scholars, including renowned Alfred Wegener). The impact origin of Kaali structure was proved finally in 1937 by finding of meteoritic iron splinters (as the first European site). Reinwald was not only outstanding investigator of meteorite cratering process, but also successful propagator of the Estonian discoveries in Anglophone mainstream science in 1930s. In addition, in his 1933 book, Kaljuvee first highlighted an impact explanation of enigmatic Ries structure in Bavaria, as well as probable magmatic activation in distant regions due to “the impulse of a giant meteorite”. He also outlined ideas of the inevitable periodic cosmic collisions in geological past (“rare event” theory nowadays), and resulting biotic crises. In a general conceptual context, the ideas of Kaljuvee were in noteworthy direct or indirect link with concepts of the great French naturalists – Laplace, Cuvier and Élie de Beaumont. However, some other Kaljuvee’s notions, albeit recurrent also later in geoscientific literature, are queer at the present time (e.g., the large-body impact as a driving force of continental drift and change the Earth axis, resulting in the Pleistocene glaciation). Thus, the Kaljuvee thought-provocative but premature dissertation is rather a record of distinguishing erudite activity, but not a real neocatastrophic landmark in geosciences history. Nevertheless, several concepts of Kaljuvee were revived as the key elements in the current geological paradigm.

The potential of economic ore deposits related to meteorite impact structures

At present, research on impact tectonics mainly covers the following aspects: 1. The structure and formation mechanism of the impact crater; 2. The ore-forming mineralization in impact structures; and 3. The economic and geological significance of impact structures. The study of impact structure not only has academic significance but also practical economic and geological significance. Economic deposits associated with impact structures range from world-class to relatively local deposits. There are three types of deposits: progenetic, syngenetic and epigenetic. There is increasing evidence that large-scale impact structures are often associated with economic deposits. Many impact structures can be targets for resource exploration but still need to be discovered. The exploration of impact structures is hindered by technology and sea-land erosion, and a considerable number of craters have been likely buried. Based on the economic deposits associated with these structures, further resource discovery and extraction has great potential.

Seismicity along St. Lawrence Paleorift Faults Overprinted by a Meteorite Impact Structure in Charlevoix, Québec, Eastern Canada

Abstract The Charlevoix seismic zone (CSZ) in Quebec has the highest number of earthquakes in eastern Canada, with cataloged events diffusely distributed between the St. Lawrence paleorift faults. In this study, we relocate 1242 out of 1639 earthquakes in the CSZ from 1988 to 2010 using double‐difference relocations with phase arrivals from manual picks and waveform cross correlations and requiring a strict set of quality control criteria. Our results show a diffuse distribution of earthquakes beneath the St. Lawrence River within a meteorite impact structure and clear lineations of event hypocenters outside the inner boundary of the impact structure. The diffuse seismicity distribution coupled with a lower cumulative seismic moment within the impact structure, despite a higher number of events, suggests the presence of highly fractured crust and weakened pre‐existing faults. A lack of M N ≥4.0 earthquakes and a wide variation of focal mechanism P‐axis orientations also provide evidence for weakened pre‐existing faults. Relocated earthquakes beneath the north shore of the St. Lawrence River illuminate a broad southeast‐trending linear structure, suggesting the geometry of the Gouffre northwest River fault. A paucity of seismicity between the north shore and the river may correspond to fault‐controlled basins of unconsolidated sediments at the surface and volumes of high‐seismic‐velocity material at midcrustal depths. Online Material: Earthquake catalogs.

Paleomagnetic and rock magnetic study of the Mistastin Lake impact structure (Labrador, Canada): Implications for geomagnetic perturbation and shock effects

We carried out an integrated rock magnetic and paleomagnetic study of the ∼36 Ma Mistastin Lake (Labrador, Canada) meteorite impact structure in order to investigate whether energy from the collision influenced the geodynamo and to assess the effects of shock on the magnetic properties of the target basement rocks. Stepwise demagnetization of 114 specimens isolates a well-defined magnetization component throughout the crater whose overall mean deviates slightly from the expected direction for North America at the time of impact. Paleointensity results from seven samples meeting stringent selection criteria show no significant difference with a global compilation from 40 to 30 Ma. The combined results, including those from a ∼80 m-thick profile of an impact melt unit (Discovery Hill), lend no support that the impact caused an aberration of the geodynamo within a few centuries of a bolide collision that created the ∼28 km-diameter crater. Both titanium-rich and titanium-poor titanomagnetite carry the magnetic remanence in the impact melt rocks; their relative proportions, compositions and domain states are cooling rate dependent. Magnetic hysteresis parameters of the magnetite-bearing anorthositic basement rocks reveal systematic changes as a function of distance from the crater's center with an increasing prevalence of single domain-like grains toward the center. Changes with radial distance are also found in the character of the Verwey transition in magnetite. Basement rocks were thermally overprinted when lying less than a meter from the impact melt rocks; Mesoproterozoic basement rocks more than a meter below the impact melt rocks hold similar magnetization directions to those expected from a 1500 Ma result for Laurentia. No evidence exists that shock heating of the basement rocks exceeded 200 °C at distances of 6–7 km from the crater's center.