The USGS Shoemaker Collection consists of unique and irreplaceable geologic hand samples, rock powders, petrographic thin sections and billets, and associated documentation, from impact craters and terrestrial analog sites around the world. Current curation efforts are focused on data rescue, preservation, and inventory. All geologic materials are being relocated into appropriate long-term storage facilities and a detailed database is being constructed for use by the scientific community.
The USGS Shoemaker collection is composed of impact crater rocks from Meteor Crater (AZ), Flynn Creek Crater (TN), Sierra Madera Crater (TX), Steinheim Crater (Germany), and several craters in Australia. Of special interest to planetary science are nine bags of fallback ejecta from the Meteor Crater interior. Also in the collection are igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks from South Africa, Australia, the San Francisco Volcanic Field, the Colorado Plateau, and many other locations throughout the U.S.
The USGS Shoemaker Collection is an essential part of the legacy of Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, whose pioneering work in the 1960’s established the new field of astrogeology, including shock metamorphism studies, impact crater modeling, and stratigraphic relations on other planetary bodies. Among his many scientific accomplishments were the development of dating planetary surfaces using impact crater size distributions, training Apollo astronauts in geologic field methods at Meteor Crater, and co-discovering Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.
Curation of the USGS Shoemaker Collection is conducted at the USGS Flagstaff Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona where samples are given proper archival documentation and storage for future use by the scientific community. Currently 700 rock samples have been processed and are available to the scientific community for research purposes.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Terrestrial Analog Sample Collections
Meteor Crater Drill Cores
Meteor Crater Sample Collection
Flynn Creek Crater Sample Collection
Gene Shoemaker - Founder of Astrogeology
He once said he considered himself a scientific historian, one whose mission in life is to relate geologic and planetary events in a perspective manner. A modest statement coming from a legend of a man who almost single-handedly created planetary science as a discipline distinct from astronomy. He brought together geologic principles to the mapping of planets, resulting in more than 3 decades of d
- Overview
The USGS Shoemaker Collection consists of unique and irreplaceable geologic hand samples, rock powders, petrographic thin sections and billets, and associated documentation, from impact craters and terrestrial analog sites around the world. Current curation efforts are focused on data rescue, preservation, and inventory. All geologic materials are being relocated into appropriate long-term storage facilities and a detailed database is being constructed for use by the scientific community.
The USGS Shoemaker collection is composed of impact crater rocks from Meteor Crater (AZ), Flynn Creek Crater (TN), Sierra Madera Crater (TX), Steinheim Crater (Germany), and several craters in Australia. Of special interest to planetary science are nine bags of fallback ejecta from the Meteor Crater interior. Also in the collection are igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks from South Africa, Australia, the San Francisco Volcanic Field, the Colorado Plateau, and many other locations throughout the U.S.
The USGS Shoemaker Collection is an essential part of the legacy of Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, whose pioneering work in the 1960’s established the new field of astrogeology, including shock metamorphism studies, impact crater modeling, and stratigraphic relations on other planetary bodies. Among his many scientific accomplishments were the development of dating planetary surfaces using impact crater size distributions, training Apollo astronauts in geologic field methods at Meteor Crater, and co-discovering Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.
Curation of the USGS Shoemaker Collection is conducted at the USGS Flagstaff Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona where samples are given proper archival documentation and storage for future use by the scientific community. Currently 700 rock samples have been processed and are available to the scientific community for research purposes.
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Terrestrial Analog Sample Collections
The Astrogeology Terrestrial Analog Sample Collections include three individual sample collections: the Meteor Crater Sample Collection, the Flynn Creek Crater Sample Collection, and the Shoemaker Sample Collection (embed links to individual pages; add buttons to click to go to individual pages). Click Related Science tab above to navigate to the individual collections pages.Meteor Crater Drill Cores
While inventorying the drill cuttings from Meteor Crater, we identified 31 boxes of drill core from the crater. Unfortunately, there was little or no documentation for these cores and we initially did not know the drill hole locations or any of the ancillary details. With the assistance of Dr. David Kring, we eventually determined the origin of all of the drill cores. We found that they were...Meteor Crater Sample Collection
Meteor Crater is a 180 m deep, 1.2 km diameter bowl-shaped impact crater in Northern Arizona, and has long been a terrestrial analog site for planetary exploration. During the 1960’s, Eugene Shoemaker trained NASA astronauts at the crater to prepare for the Apollo missions to the Moon. The Meteor Crater Sample Collection consists of geologic samples from the Meteor Crater ejecta blanket. USGS...Flynn Creek Crater Sample Collection
Flynn Creek crater is a 3.8 km diameter, 360-million-year-old impact structure located in north central Tennessee, and is an invaluable terrestrial analog for the study of impact cratering dynamics. The Flynn Creek Crater Sample Collection consists of over two thousand boxes of drill core from 18 drill holes in the crater’s central uplift, floor, and rim. USGS Astrogeology curates and provides...Gene Shoemaker - Founder of Astrogeology
He once said he considered himself a scientific historian, one whose mission in life is to relate geologic and planetary events in a perspective manner. A modest statement coming from a legend of a man who almost single-handedly created planetary science as a discipline distinct from astronomy. He brought together geologic principles to the mapping of planets, resulting in more than 3 decades of d