Impact Studies – serie

This book highlights the most prominent research on the Popigai meteorite crater (Siberia, Russia), the 6th largest known impact structure in the world. Not only does the crater have a diameter of roughly 100 km, it is also an estimated 35.7 million years old.This monograph is an updated, extended and revised edition of the Russian-language book “Diamond-bearing Impactites of Popigai Astrobleme” and presents the most comprehensive research on the Popigai impact structure. The Popigai crater is unique in that the total amount of impact diamonds it contains exceeds all the other diamond-bearing provinces of the world.The work presented here is based on the geological mapping, core logging, geophysical survey and petrological studies of the crater, and was written by the team of geologists who first described the Popigai impact structure and its diamonds, and took part in the exploration of their deposits from 1970 to 1985.

This book presents essential data on the geology of the Puchezh-Katunki crater – an early Jurassic crater located on the East European Platform, with an impact structure that is ca. 80 km in diameter. Offering a comprehensive guide, it reviews the studies carried out during the last several decades on this prominent but not well-known impact structure. It offers the international community state-of-the-art information on the crater with regard to e.g. structural mapping, drilling (including the Vorotilovo well, which is 5374 m deep), geophysical research, and the petrological analysis of impactites and various breccias. In addition, the book includes new results from the mineralization and crystallizations beneath this large impact crater, and suggests new models for crater formations.

This book presents essential data on the geology of the Puchezh-Katunki crater – an early Jurassic crater located on the East European Platform, with an impact structure that is ca. 80 km in diameter. Offering a comprehensive guide, it reviews the studies carried out during the last several decades on this prominent but not well-known impact structure. It offers the international community state-of-the-art information on the crater with regard to e.g. structural mapping, drilling (including the Vorotilovo well, which is 5374 m deep), geophysical research, and the petrological analysis of impactites and various breccias. In addition, the book includes new results from the mineralization and crystallizations beneath this large impact crater, and suggests new models for crater formations.

This book describes the complexity of impact hazards associated with asteroids and comets. The challenge in this regard lies in the heterogeneous nature of these bodies that endanger our planet, which is why we are conducting new experiments to better understand their unique physicochemical properties. Several generations of astronomers have tracked and mapped the orbits of asteroids and comets over the past few centuries, and telescopic surveys have only begun to discover “new” interstellar objects. In addition, cutting-edge software allow our computers to combine the orbits of these elusive bodies to study how they evolve over time and seek to match asteroid complexes as fragments of asteroidal and cometary disruptions.Impact hazards represent one of the greatest threats to the survival of human beings in the medium term. Geological studies show that the stratigraphic record holds clear geological evidence of these rare but transcendental encounters in the history of life on our planet. The study and quantification of past catastrophes can give us clues to face future challenges in the form of potential impacts.Further, it would be illogical to assume that Earth’s interaction with space is limited to major impacts. Every night, Earth is struck by millions of particles, and dozens of meteor showers occur around the globe every year. The study of lake and ocean sediments reveals the magnitude of the continuous contribution of interplanetary matter reaching Earth: roughly 100,000 tons per year.Accordingly, the goal of this book is to underscore the need for society-wide awareness of the dangers associated with asteroid and comet impacts, on the basis of scientific evidence and with no intention of sparking alarmism. After all, we ourselves may only be the fruit of an opportunity given to mammals sixty-five million years ago to evolve after the conflagration that would be the downfall of the dinosaurs. If we have learned toread Earth’s geological history, we should consider ourselves a very fortunate species, and its teachings should equip us to face this problem.The also book emphasizes the role of space missions to gain insights on these bodies, particularly describing the relevance of the DART (NASA) and Hera (ESA) missions to deflect and study Dimorphos, respectively, the small satellite of the Didymos binary asteroid.

This book describes the complexity of impact hazards associated with asteroids and comets. The challenge in this regard lies in the heterogeneous nature of these bodies that endanger our planet, which is why we are conducting new experiments to better understand their unique physicochemical properties. Several generations of astronomers have tracked and mapped the orbits of asteroids and comets over the past few centuries, and telescopic surveys have only begun to discover “new” interstellar objects. In addition, cutting-edge software allow our computers to combine the orbits of these elusive bodies to study how they evolve over time and seek to match asteroid complexes as fragments of asteroidal and cometary disruptions.Impact hazards represent one of the greatest threats to the survival of human beings in the medium term. Geological studies show that the stratigraphic record holds clear geological evidence of these rare but transcendental encounters in the history of life on our planet. The study and quantification of past catastrophes can give us clues to face future challenges in the form of potential impacts.Further, it would be illogical to assume that Earth’s interaction with space is limited to major impacts. Every night, Earth is struck by millions of particles, and dozens of meteor showers occur around the globe every year. The study of lake and ocean sediments reveals the magnitude of the continuous contribution of interplanetary matter reaching Earth: roughly 100,000 tons per year.Accordingly, the goal of this book is to underscore the need for society-wide awareness of the dangers associated with asteroid and comet impacts, on the basis of scientific evidence and with no intention of sparking alarmism. After all, we ourselves may only be the fruit of an opportunity given to mammals sixty-five million years ago to evolve after the conflagration that would be the downfall of the dinosaurs. If we have learned toread Earth’s geological history, we should consider ourselves a very fortunate species, and its teachings should equip us to face this problem.The also book emphasizes the role of space missions to gain insights on these bodies, particularly describing the relevance of the DART (NASA) and Hera (ESA) missions to deflect and study Dimorphos, respectively, the small satellite of the Didymos binary asteroid.

This book highlights the most prominent research on the Popigai meteorite crater (Siberia, Russia), the 6th largest known impact structure in the world. Not only does the crater have a diameter of roughly 100 km, it is also an estimated 35.7 million years old.This monograph is an updated, extended and revised edition of the Russian-language book “Diamond-bearing Impactites of Popigai Astrobleme” and presents the most comprehensive research on the Popigai impact structure. The Popigai crater is unique in that the total amount of impact diamonds it contains exceeds all the other diamond-bearing provinces of the world.The work presented here is based on the geological mapping, core logging, geophysical survey and petrological studies of the crater, and was written by the team of geologists who first described the Popigai impact structure and its diamonds, and took part in the exploration of their deposits from 1970 to 1985.

The present volume is an outcome of the scientific programme “Response of the Earth System to Impact Processes” (IMPACT) by the European Science Foundation (ESF). The ESF is an association of 67 national member organizations devoted to scientific research in 24 European countries. The IMPACT programme is aimed at understanding meteorite impact processes and their effects on the Earth System. Launched in 1998 for duration of 5 years, 15 ESF member organizations now participate in this programme, which will officially end in late 2003, although the momentum gained for European (and worldwide) impact research will be carried on in other programs and organizations. The programme deals with all aspects of meteorite impact research and operates through workshops, exchange programs, publications, and short courses. This particular book is the third in an informal series on “Impact Studies”, which is published by Springer and intended to go beyond the ESF IMPACT programme by providing a venue for high quality (and peer-reviewed) monographs and conference and workshop proceedings on general topics connected to impact cratering and related research. th The 6 ESF-Impact workshop “Impact makers in the stratigraphic record” was held in Granada (Spain) on May 2001, with about sixty scientists from Europe, Taiwan, and North America attending the workshop. During the workshop 30 oral, 32 poster, and 3 keynote contributions were presented.

This volume is the latest of eight books as a result of the activities of the scientific program on ”The Response of the Earth System to Impact Processes” (IMPACT) of the European Science Foundation (ESF). The ESF is the European association of national funding organisations of fundamental research, with more than 60 member organisations from more than 20 countries. One of the main goals of ESF is to bring European scientists together to work on topics of common interest. The ESF IMPACT program deals with all aspect of impact research, mainly through the organisation of workshops, exchange program, short course, and related activities. An important aspect of the program is to stimulate interdisciplinary and international research. Impacts of asteroids or comets on the earth surface have played an important role in the evolution of the planet. The ESF IMPACT program is an interdisciplinary program aimed at understanding impact processes and their effect on the earth system, including environmental, biological, and geological changes, and consequences for the biodiversity of ecosystems. The key goal of the program, to comprehend the processes that are responsible for these interactions, has been met with by eight workshops and published proceedings from these. The workshop from which this volume resulted, was devoted to impact tectonic studies. It was located in the small town of Mora in the western part of the ring basin of the very large Siljan impact structure in Sweden.

The biological effects of asteroid and comet impacts have been widely viewed as primarily destructive. The role of an impactor in the K/T boundary extinctions has had a particularly important influence on thinking concerning the role of impacts in ecological and biological changes. th During the 10 and final workshop of the ESF IMPACT program during March 2003, we sought to investigate the wider aspects of the involvement of impact events in biological processes, including the beneficial role of these events from the prebiotic through to the ecosystem level. The ESF IMPACT programme (1998-2003) was an interdisciplinary effort that is aimed at understanding impact processes and their effects on the Earth environment, including environmental, geological and biological changes. The IMPACT programme has 15 member states and the activities of the programme range from workshops to short courses on topics such as impact stratigraphy, shock metamorphism, etc. The program has also awarded mobility grants and been involved in the development of teaching aids and numerous publications, including this one.

" . . . bangs have replaced whimpers and the geological record has become much more exciting than it was thought to be. " Derek Ager (1993) The New Catastro­ phism. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p xix Scientific and public interest in asteroids, comets, and meteorite impacts has never been more intense than right now. Much of this interest stems from the fervent debates surrounding the causes of the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinctions and their possible relationships to a giant bolide impact in Mexico's Yucatan Penin­ sula. Recent spectacular impacts on Jupiter, and several near misses of our own planet by Near-Earth Objects have intensified professional and popular discussion of society's imperative need to understand the process and effects of bolide im­ pacts. In the United States, the scientific community and the public, as well, were startled to learn, in 1994, that the largest impact structure in this country had been detected beneath Virginia's portion of the Chesapeake Bay. Seismic surveys and deep coring revealed a huge crater, 85 kilometers in diameter and more than a kilometer deep, stretching from Yorktown, Virginia, to 15 kilometers out onto the shallow continental shelf. Several of Virginia's major population centers, includ­ ing Norfolk, Hampton, and Newport News, are located on the western rim of the crater, and still experience residual effects of the original collision, 36 million years after the impact took place. Exploration and documentation of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure has proceeded in three phases.

Despite their global importance, little is known about the few existing examples of impacts into marine environments and icy targets. They are among the least understood and studied parts of impact crater geology. The icy impacts are also of great importance in understanding the developments of the outer planets and their satellites such as Mars or Europa. Furthermore, the impact mechanisms, crater formation and collapse, melt production and the ejecta distribution are scarcely known for impact on targets other than the "classical" solid silicates of the continental crust. The reaction of water and ice to impacts clearly deserves a more thorough study. The understanding of impact effects and consequences in the case of aqueous hits, soft sediments and icy targets has not been thoroughly explored and comprises the main focus of this book. A number of papers in the field of hypervelocity impacts on ice are included. These cover a review of available literature in the field of laboratory studies of such impacts, large impact structures on Titan, predicting impact cratering on a comet nucleus, and a novel report on the survival of bacteria fired at hypervelocity into icy surfaces.This latter paper is concerned with astrobiology and in particular Panspermia (natural migration of life through space).

The present volume is the result of activities within the scientific programme "Response of the Earth System to Impact Processes" (IMP ACT) of the European Science Foundation (ESF). The ESF is an association of 67 national member organisations devoted to scientific research in 24 European countries. The IMPACT programme is aimed at understanding meteorite impact processes and their effects on the Earth System. Launched in 1998 for a duration of 5 years, the programme is now supported by 15 ESF membership countries. The programme of meteorite impact research and operates through deals with all aspects workshops, exchange programs, and short courses. The 4th IMPACT programme workshop "Meteorite Impacts in Precambrian Shields" took place on May 24-28, 2000, in Lappajarvi, western Finland. A total of 84 scientists from 19 countries from Europe, North America, and Africa participated in the workshop. During the workshop, 43 oral, 31 poster, and several video presentations were made. An exhibition of impactite rocks from Finnish craters and two excursions were organised. The excursion to impact melt rock outcrops of the Lappajarvi structure took place during the workshop. The Karikkoselka and Saaksjarvi impact structures in south-central Finland were visited during the post-meeting excursion.

The Mjølnir impact structure was recognized in 1993 and included in the Earth Impact Database in 1996, based on the discoveries of unequivocal meteorite impact indicators such as shocked quartz, Ir-enrichments, possible glass remnants, fragments of nickel-rich iron oxides, in addition to the convincing complex crater shape of the structure. This book presents the geological and geophysical history of the Barents Sea region along with the discovery of the Mjølnir impact crater. We place the Mjølnir event into the geological framework of the region and present elaborative numerical models of its formation and associated tsunami generation. The book represents an update and synthesis as well as the complete compilation of the Mjølnir crater studies.

Impact cratering is an important geological process on all solid planetary bodies, and, in the case of Earth, may have had major climatic and biological effects. Most terrestrial impact craters have been erased or modified beyond recognition. However, major impacts throw ejecta over large areas of the Earth's surface. Recognition of these impact ejecta layers can help fill in the gaps in the terrestrial cratering record and at the same time provide direct correlation between major impacts and other geological events, such as climatic changes and mass extinctions. This book provides the first summary of known distal impact ejecta layers

The biological effects of asteroid and comet impacts have been widely viewed as primarily destructive. The role of an impactor in the K/T boundary extinctions has had a particularly important influence on thinking concerning the role of impacts in ecological and biological changes. th During the 10 and final workshop of the ESF IMPACT program during March 2003, we sought to investigate the wider aspects of the involvement of impact events in biological processes, including the beneficial role of these events from the prebiotic through to the ecosystem level. The ESF IMPACT programme (1998-2003) was an interdisciplinary effort that is aimed at understanding impact processes and their effects on the Earth environment, including environmental, geological and biological changes. The IMPACT programme has 15 member states and the activities of the programme range from workshops to short courses on topics such as impact stratigraphy, shock metamorphism, etc. The program has also awarded mobility grants and been involved in the development of teaching aids and numerous publications, including this one.

Despite their global importance, little is known about the few existing examples of impacts into marine environments and icy targets. They are among the least understood and studied parts of impact crater geology. The icy impacts are also of great importance in understanding the developments of the outer planets and their satellites such as Mars or Europa. Furthermore, the impact mechanisms, crater formation and collapse, melt production and the ejecta distribution are scarcely known for impact on targets other than the "classical" solid silicates of the continental crust. The reaction of water and ice to impacts clearly deserves a more thorough study. The understanding of  impact effects and consequences in the case of aqueous hits, soft sediments and icy targets has not been thoroughly explored and comprises the main focus of this book. A number of papers in the field of hypervelocity impacts on ice are included. These cover a review of available literature in the field of laboratory studies of such impacts, large impact structures on Titan, predicting impact cratering on a comet nucleus, and a novel report on the survival of bacteria fired at hypervelocity into icy surfaces. This latter paper is concerned with astrobiology and in particular Panspermia (natural migration of life through space).

The present volume is the result of activities within the scientific programme "Response of the Earth System to Impact Processes" (IMP ACT) of the European Science Foundation (ESF). The ESF is an association of 67 national member organisations devoted to scientific research in 24 European countries. The IMPACT programme is aimed at understanding meteorite impact processes and their effects on the Earth System. Launched in 1998 for a duration of 5 years, the programme is now supported by 15 ESF membership countries. The programme of meteorite impact research and operates through deals with all aspects workshops, exchange programs, and short courses. The 4th IMPACT programme workshop "Meteorite Impacts in Precambrian Shields" took place on May 24-28, 2000, in Lappajarvi, western Finland. A total of 84 scientists from 19 countries from Europe, North America, and Africa participated in the workshop. During the workshop, 43 oral, 31 poster, and several video presentations were made. An exhibition of impactite rocks from Finnish craters and two excursions were organised. The excursion to impact melt rock outcrops of the Lappajarvi structure took place during the workshop. The Karikkoselka and Saaksjarvi impact structures in south-central Finland were visited during the post-meeting excursion.

The Mjølnir impact structure was recognized in 1993 and included in the Earth Impact Database in 1996, based on the discoveries of unequivocal meteorite impact indicators such as shocked quartz, Ir-enrichments, possible glass remnants, fragments of nickel-rich iron oxides, in addition to the convincing complex crater shape of the structure. This book presents the geological and geophysical history of the Barents Sea region along with the discovery of the Mjølnir impact crater. We place the Mjølnir event into the geological framework of the region and present elaborative numerical models of its formation and associated tsunami generation. The book represents an update and synthesis as well as the complete compilation of the Mjølnir crater studies.

This volume is the latest of eight books as a result of the activities of the scientific program on ”The Response of the Earth System to Impact Processes” (IMPACT) of the European Science Foundation (ESF). The ESF is the European association of national funding organisations of fundamental research, with more than 60 member organisations from more than 20 countries. One of the main goals of ESF is to bring European scientists together to work on topics of common interest. The ESF IMPACT program deals with all aspect of impact research, mainly through the organisation of workshops, exchange program, short course, and related activities. An important aspect of the program is to stimulate interdisciplinary and international research. Impacts of asteroids or comets on the earth surface have played an important role in the evolution of the planet. The ESF IMPACT program is an interdisciplinary program aimed at understanding impact processes and their effect on the earth system, including environmental, biological, and geological changes, and consequences for the biodiversity of ecosystems. The key goal of the program, to comprehend the processes that are responsible for these interactions, has been met with by eight workshops and published proceedings from these. The workshop from which this volume resulted, was devoted to impact tectonic studies. It was located in the small town of Mora in the western part of the ring basin of the very large Siljan impact structure in Sweden.

" . . . bangs have replaced whimpers and the geological record has become much more exciting than it was thought to be. " Derek Ager (1993) The New Catastro­ phism. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p xix Scientific and public interest in asteroids, comets, and meteorite impacts has never been more intense than right now. Much of this interest stems from the fervent debates surrounding the causes of the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinctions and their possible relationships to a giant bolide impact in Mexico's Yucatan Penin­ sula. Recent spectacular impacts on Jupiter, and several near misses of our own planet by Near-Earth Objects have intensified professional and popular discussion of society's imperative need to understand the process and effects of bolide im­ pacts. In the United States, the scientific community and the public, as well, were startled to learn, in 1994, that the largest impact structure in this country had been detected beneath Virginia's portion of the Chesapeake Bay. Seismic surveys and deep coring revealed a huge crater, 85 kilometers in diameter and more than a kilometer deep, stretching from Yorktown, Virginia, to 15 kilometers out onto the shallow continental shelf. Several of Virginia's major population centers, includ­ ing Norfolk, Hampton, and Newport News, are located on the western rim of the crater, and still experience residual effects of the original collision, 36 million years after the impact took place. Exploration and documentation of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure has proceeded in three phases.

The present volume is an outcome of the scientific programme “Response of the Earth System to Impact Processes” (IMPACT) by the European Science Foundation (ESF). The ESF is an association of 67 national member organizations devoted to scientific research in 24 European countries. The IMPACT programme is aimed at understanding meteorite impact processes and their effects on the Earth System. Launched in 1998 for duration of 5 years, 15 ESF member organizations now participate in this programme, which will officially end in late 2003, although the momentum gained for European (and worldwide) impact research will be carried on in other programs and organizations. The programme deals with all aspects of meteorite impact research and operates through workshops, exchange programs, publications, and short courses. This particular book is the third in an informal series on “Impact Studies”, which is published by Springer and intended to go beyond the ESF IMPACT programme by providing a venue for high quality (and peer-reviewed) monographs and conference and workshop proceedings on general topics connected to impact cratering and related research. th The 6 ESF-Impact workshop “Impact makers in the stratigraphic record” was held in Granada (Spain) on May 2001, with about sixty scientists from Europe, Taiwan, and North America attending the workshop. During the workshop 30 oral, 32 poster, and 3 keynote contributions were presented.

This book is the first volume of a new interdisciplinary series on "Impact Studies". The volumes of this series aim to include all aspects of research related to impact cratering - geology, geophysics, paleontology, geochemistry, mineralogy, petrology, planetolgy, etc. Future volumes will include monographs, field guides, conference proceedings, etc. All contributions in this book were peer-reviewed to ensure high scientific quality. The thirteen papers in the present volume result from a workshop of the European Science Foundation (ESF) IMPACT programme ("Response of the Earth System to Impact Processes"). This programme is an interdisciplinary effort aimed at understanding impact processes and their effects on the Earth System, including environmental, biological, and geological changes, and consequences for the biodiversity of ecosystems. The goals of the programme, and details about our activities, can be found on the web at . The IMPACT programme has currently 15 member nations from allover Europe. The activities of the programme range from workshops to specific topics regarding impact cratering, short courses on impact stratigraphy, shock metamorphism, etc. , mobility grants for students and young researchers, development of teaching aids, and publications. The third IMPACT workshop was held in Quillan, in the foothills of the French Pyrenees, in September 1999.