New observations on shatter cones in the Vredefort impact structure, South Africa, and evaluation of current hypotheses for shatter cone formation

Meteoritics and Planetary Science

Volumn 41, Issue 11, 2006, Pages 1737-1759

  Wieland, F ^a   Reimold, W Uwe ^a,b   Gibson, R L ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND   (South Africa)

^b HUMBOLDT UNIVERSITY   (Germany)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CRATERING; IMPACT STRUCTURE; METEORITE; NUMERICAL MODEL; SHATTER CONE; STRIATION;

AFRICA; SOUTH AFRICA; SOUTHERN AFRICA; SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA;

EID: 33751367681     PISSN: 10869379     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1945-5100.2006.tb00449.x     Document Type: Article

References (63)

1. Albat H. M. 1988. Shatter cone/bedding interrelationship in the Vredefort structure: Evidence for meteorite impact? South African Journal of Geology 91:106-113.
2. Albat H. M. and Mayer J. J. 1989. Megascopic planar shock fractures in the Vredefort structure: A potential time marker? Tectonophysics 162:265-276.
3. Antoine L. A. G., Nicolaysen L. O., and Nicol S. L. 1990. Processed and enhanced gravity and magnetic images over the Vredefort structure and their interpretation. Tectonophysics 171:63-74.
4. Baratoux D. and Melosh H. J. 2003. The formation of shatter cones by shock wave interference during impacting. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 216:43-54.
5. Berlenbach J. W. and Roering C. 1992. Sheath-fold-like structures in pseudotachylites. Journal of Structural Geology 14:847-856.
6. Branco W. and Fraas E. 1905. Das kryptovulkanische Becken von Steinheim. Akademie der Wissenschaften Berlin. Physikalische-mathematische kleine Abhandlung 1: 1-64.
7. Bucher W. H. 1936. Cryptovolcanic structures in the United States. 16th International Geological Congress, v. 2. Washington, D.C. pp. 1055-1084.
8. Cook P. J. 1996. Gosses Bluff cryptoexplosion structures. Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Mining Records. 132 p.
9. Corner B., Durrheim R. J., and Nicolaysen L. O. 1990. Relationships between the Vredefort structure and the Witwatersrand Basin within the tectonic framework of the Kaapvaal Craton as interpreted from regional activity and aeromagnetic data. Tectonophysics 171:49-61.
10. Crook K. and Cook P. J. 1966. Gosses Bluff: Diapir, cryptovolcanic structures or astrobleme? Journal of the Geological Society of Australia 13:495-516.
11. Davis G. H. and Reynolds S. J. 1996. Structural geology of rocks and regions, 2nd edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 776 p.
12. Dence M. R. 1964. A comparative structural and petrographic study of probable Canadian meteorite craters. Meteoritics 2:249-270.
13. Dietz R. S. 1947. Meteorite impact suggested by the orientation of shatter cones at the Kentland, Indiana disturbance. Science 105: 42-43.
14. Dietz R. S. 1959. Shatter cones in cryptoexplosion structures (meteorite impact?). Journal of Geology 67:496-505.
15. Dietz R. S. 1960. Meteorite impact suggested by shatter cones in rock. Science 131:1781-1784.
16. Dietz R. S. 1961. Vredefort ring structure: Meteorite impact scar? Journal of Geology 69:499-516.
17. Dietz R. S. 1964. Sudbury structure as an astrobleme. Journal of Geology 72:412-434.
18. Dietz R. S. 1967. Shatter cone orientation at Gosses Bluff astrobleme. Nature 216:1082-1084.
19. Dietz R. S. 1968. Shatter cones in cryptoeplosion structures. In Shock metamorphism of natural materials, edited by French B. M. and Short N. M. Baltimore, Maryland: Mono Book Corporation. pp.267-284.
20. Dressler B. O. and Reimold W. U. 2004. Order or chaos? Origin and mode of emplacement of breccias in floors of large impact structures. Earth-Science Reviews 67:1-54.
21. Dressler B. O., Sharpton V. L., and Copeland P. 1999. Slate Islands, Lake Superior, Canada: A mid-size, complex impact structure. In Large meteorite impacts and planetary evolution II, edited by Dressler B. O. and Sharpton C. L. pp. 109-124.
22. French B. M. 1998. Traces of catastrophe: A handbook of shock-metamorphic effects in terrestrial meteorite impact structures. Houston, Texas: Lunar and Planetary Institute. 120 p.
23. Gash P. J. S. 1971. Dynamic mechanism for the formation of shatter cones. Nature of Physics and Science 194:724-725.
24. Gay N. C. 1976. Spherules on shatter cone surfaces from the Vredefort structure. Science 194:724-725.
25. Gay N. C., Comins N. R., and Simpson C. 1978. The composition of spherules and other features on shatter cone surfaces from the Vredefort structure, South Africa. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 41:372-380.
26. Gibson R. L. and Reimold W. U. 2001. The Vredefort impact structure (The scientific evidence and a two-day excursion guide). Silverton, Pretoria: Council for Geoscience. 111 p.
27. Gibson R. L. and Reimold W. U. 2005. Shock pressure distribution in the Vredefort impact structure, South Africa. In Large meteorite impacts, edited by Kenkmann T., Hörz F., and Deutsch A. pp. 329-350.
28. Gibson H. M. and Spray J. G. 1998. Shock-induced melting and vaporization of shatter cone surfaces: Evidence from the Sudbury impact structure. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 33: 329-336.
29. Hargraves R. B. 1961. Shatter cones in the rocks of the Vredefort ring. Transactions of the Geological Society of South Africa 64: 147-161.
30. Henkel H. and Reimold W. U. 1998. Integrated geophysical modelling of a giant, complex structure: Anatomy of the Vredefort structure, South Africa. Tectonophysics 287:1-20.
31. Huffman A. R. and Reimold W. U. 1996. Experimental constraints on shock-induced microstructures in naturally deformed silicates. Tectonophysics 256:165-217.
32. Johnson G. P. and Talbot R. 1964. A theoretical study of the shock-wave origin of shatter cones. M.Sc. thesis. Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, USA.
33. Kamo S. L., Reimold W. U., Krogh T. E., and Colliston W. P. 1996. A 2.023 Ga age for the Vredefort impact eventand a first report of shock metamorphosed zircons in pseudotachylite breccias and granophyre. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 144:369-388.
34. Leroux H., Reimold W. U., and Doukhan, J.C. 1994. A TEM investigation of shock metamorphism in quartz from the Vredefort Dome, South Africa. Tectonophysics 230:223-239.
35. Lugli S., Reimold W. U., and Koeberl C. 2005. Silicified cone-in-cone structures from Erfoud (Morocco): A comparison with impact-generated shatter cones. In Impact tectonics, edited by Koeberl C. and Henkel H. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. pp. 81-110.
36. Manton W. I. 1962. The orientation and implication of shatter cones in the Vredefort ring structure. M.Sc. thesis. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
37. Manton W. I. 1965. The orientation and origin of shatter cones in the Vredefort ring. Annals of the New York Academy of Science 123: 1017-1049.
38. Martini J. E. J. 1978. Coesite and stishovite in the Vredefort Dome, South Africa. Nature 277:495-496.
39. Martini J. E. J. 1991. The nature, distribution and genesis of the coesite and stishovite associated with the pseudotachylite of the Vredefort Dome, South Africa. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 103:285-300.
40. Mayer J. J. 1997. Impact-induced shatter cones and percussion marks on quartzites of Witwatersrand and Transvaal Supergroups? Discussion. South African Journal of Geology 100:181-184.
41. Mayer J. J. and Albat H. M. 1990. An appraisal of the significance of small-scale structures in the contorted bed of the area of the Vredefort structure. South African Journal of Geology 93:311-317.
42. Milton D. J. 1977. Shatter cones - An outstanding problem in shock mechanics. In Impact and explosion cratering, edited by Roddy D. J., Pepin R. O., and Merrill R. B. New York: Pergamon Press. pp. 703-714.
43. Milton D. J., Glikson A. Y, and Brett R. 1996. Gosses Bluff, a latest Jurassic impact structure, central Australia. Part 1: Geological structure, stratigraphy and origin. AGSO Journal of Australian Geology and Geophysics 16:453-486.
44. Minnitt R. C. A., Reimold W. U., and Colliston W. P. 1994. The geology of the Greenlands Greenstone Complex and selected granitoid terranes in the southeastern quadrant of the Vredefort Dome. Economic Geology Research Unit Information Circular #281. 46 p.
45. Nicolaysen L. O. and Reimold W. U. 1987. Shatter cones revisited. (working paper) Contribution to the International Workshop on Cryptoexplosions and Catastrophes in the Geological Record. Parys 1987, Section N2, BPI Geophysics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. 8 p.
46. Nicolaysen L. O. and Reimold W. U. 1999. Vredefort shatter cones revisited. Journal of Geophysical Research 104:4911-4930.
47. Osinski G. R. and Spray J. G. 2006. Shatter cones of the Haughton impact structure, Canada (abstract). First International Conference on Impact Cratering in the Solar System. p. 2.
48. Passchier C. W. and Trouw R. A. J. 1996. Microtectonics. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. 288 p.
49. Reimold W. U. and Colliston W. P. 1994. Pseudotachylites of the Vredefort Dome and the surrounding Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa. In Large meteorite impacts and planetary evolution, edited by Dressler B. O., Grieve R. A. F. and Sharpton V. L. Boulder, Colorado: Geological Society of America. pp. 177-196.
50. Reimold W. U. and Minnitt R. C. A. 1996. Impact-induced shatter cones or percussion marks on quartzites of the Witwatersrand and Transvaal Supergroups? South African Journal of Geology 99: 299-308.
51. Reimold W. U. and Gibson R. L. 2005. Pseudotachylites in large impact structures. In Impact tectonics, edited by Koeberl C. and Henkel H. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. 552 p.
52. Reimold W. U., Leroux H., and Gibson R. L. 2002. Shocked and thermally metamorphosed zircon from the Vredefort impact structure, South Africa: A transmission electron microscopic study. European Journal of Mineralogy 14:859-868.
53. Roddy D. J. and Davis L. K. 1977. Shatter cones formed in largescale experimental explosion craters. In Impact and explosion cratering, edited by Roddy D. H., Pepin D. O., and Merrill R. B. Tarrytown, New York: Pergamon Press. pp. 715-750.
54. Sagy A., Reches Z., and Fineberg J. 2002. Dynamic fracture by large extraterrestrial impacts as the origin of shatter cones. Nature 418: 310-313.
55. Sagy A., Fineberg J., and Reches Z. 2004. Shatter cones: Branched fractures formed by shock impact. Journal of Geophysical Research 109:B10209.
56. Sharpton V L., Dressler B. O., Herrick R. R., Schnieders B., and Scott J. 1996. New constraints on the Slate Island impact structure, Ontario, Canada. Geology 24:851-854.
57. Shrock R. and Malott C. 1933. The Kentland area of disturbed Ordovician rocks in northwestern Indiana. Journal of Geology 41:337-370.
58. Simpson C. 1981. Occurrence and orientation of shatter cones in Pretoria Group quartzites in the collar of the Vredefort "Dome": Impact origin precluded. Journal of Geophysical Research 86: 10,701-10,706.
59. Stöffler D. and Langenhorst F. 1994. Shock metamorphism of quartz in nature and experiment: I. Basic observation and theory. Meteoritics 29:155-181.
60. Therriault A. M., Grieve R. A. F., and Reimold W. U. 1997. The Vredefort structure: Original size and significance for geological evolution of the Witwatersrand Basin. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 32:71-77.
61. White J. C. 1993. Shock-induced melting and silica polymorph formation, Vredefort structure, South Aftica. In Defects and processes in the solid state: Geoscience applications, edited by Boland J. N. and Fitzgerald J. G. Amsterdam: Elsevier. pp. 69-84.
62. Wilshire H. G., Offield T. W., Howard K. A., and Cummings D. 1972. Geology of the Sierra Madera cryptoexplosion structure, Pecos County, Texas. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper #599-H:42.
63. Wieland F., Gibson R. L., and Reimold W. U. 2005. Impact-induced structures in the Vredefort Dome, South Africa. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 40:1537-1554.