Impact lithologies and their emplacement in the Chicxulub impact crater: Initial results from the Chicxulub Scientific Drilling Project, Yaxcopoil, Mexico (original) (raw)

2004, Meteoritics & Planetary Science

Abstract— The Chicxulub Scientific Drilling Project (CSDP), Mexico, produced a continuous core of material from depths of 404 to 1511 m in the Yaxcopoil-1 (Yax-1) borehole, revealing (top to bottom) Tertiary marine sediments, polymict breccias, an impact melt unit, and one or more blocks of Cretaceous target sediments that are crosscut with impact-generated dikes, in a region that lies between the peak ring and final crater rim. The impact melt and breccias in the Yax-1 borehole are 100 m thick, which is approximately 1/5 the thickness of breccias and melts exposed in the Yucatán-6 exploration hole, which is also thought to be located between the peak ring and final rim of the Chicxulub crater. The sequence and composition of impact melts and breccias are grossly similar to those in the Yucatán-6 hole. Compared to breccias in other impact craters, the Chicxulub breccias are incredibly rich in silicate melt fragments (up to 84% versus 30 to 50%, for example, in the Ries). The melt in...