FOLDING WITHIN SECONDS

Abstract

Hypervelocity impacts of cosmic projectiles larger than ˜200 m diameter are capable of forming complex craters on Earth. At these craters, shock loading, shock damage, and excavation flow are followed by a gravity-driven collapse of the deep transient cavity. Such impact structures are characterized by a central uplift, a flat crater floor, and a terraced crater rim. Collapse-induced deformation features, like folds and brittle fault zones, have many similarities to tectonic structures. Typical deformation patterns of complex terrestrial impact craters of 5 15 km diameter are compiled and analyzed with respect to their kinematic development. Unlike their tectonic counterparts, deformation structures are always the result of non-plane-strain deformation and are formed in a single event that takes place in seconds to minutes. To understand the high-strain-rate processes, the microstructure of an impact-induced fold of the Crooked Creek impact crater (˜7 km diameter), Missouri, United States, is investigated in detail. A period of 20 30 s at the most is determined for the collapse phase of this crater. The gross plastic deformation behavior of the fold is achieved by localized brittle deformation along millimeter- to centimeter-spaced fault zones, forming a network of veins. Shock damage has fractured ˜40% of grain boundaries. The onset of collapse and associated deformation started in rocks with a reduced cohesion and is friction controlled.