The Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater

By Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center

In 2005 and 2006, the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program and the U.S. Geological Survey drilled a 1,766-m-deep test hole near the center of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure.

Below you can find publications relevant to the discovery and characterization of the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater.

Professional Papers

- July 1, 1999
  The effects of the Chesapeake Bay impact crater on the geological framework and correlation of hydrogeologic units of the lower York-James Peninsula, Virginia
  
  This report documents the highly variable structure, stratigraphy, and buried topography of the outer rim of the Chesapeake Bay impact crater created by its impact and burial. Lithologies of cores are correlated with borehole geophysical logs to characterize the physical properties of the stratigraphic units and their geophysical signatures. The correlation between cores, well cuttings...
  
  Authors
  
  David S. Powars, Bruce T. Scott
  
  By
  
  Chesapeake Bay Activities
- March 1, 2000
  The effects of the Chesapeake Bay impact crater on the geologic framework and the correlation of hydrogeologic units of southeastern Virginia, south of the James River
  
  About 35 million years ago, a large comet or meteor slammed into the shallow shelf on the western margin of the Atlantic Ocean, creating the Chesapeake Bay impact crater. This report, the second in a series, refines the geologic framework of southeastern Virginia, south of the James River in and near the impact crater, and presents evidence for the existence of a pre-impact James River...
  
  Authors
  
  David S. Powars
- January 11, 2005
  Studies of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure: The USGS-NASA Langley corehole, Hampton, Virginia, and related coreholes and geophysical surveys
  
  No abstract available.
  
  Authors
  
  J. Wright Horton, David S. Powars, Gregory S. Gohn
  
  By
  
  Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Chesapeake Bay Activities

Open-file reports

- December 1, 2001
  Preliminary report on the USGS-NASA Langley Corehole -- the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater Project: A. Operational summary for the USGS -- NASA Langley Corehole, Hampton, Virginia. B. Preliminary geologic summary for the USGS -- NASA Langley Corehol, Hampto
  
  No abstract available.
  
  Authors
  
  Gregory S. Gohn, Arthur C. Clark, Donald G. Queen, Joel S. Levine, Randolph E. McFarland, David S. Powars, Bruce T. Scott, Laurel M. Bybell, Thomas M. Cronin, Lucy E. Edwards, Norman O. Frederiksen, J. Wright Horton, Glen A. Izett, Gerald H. Johnson, C. Wylie Poag, James E. Quick, J. Stephen Schindler, Jean M. Self-Trail, Matthew J. Smith, Robert G. Stamm, Robert E. Weems
  
  By
  
  Chesapeake Bay Activities
- January 1, 2001
  High-resolution seismic reflection/refraction images near the outer margin of the Chesapeake Bay impact crater, York-James Peninsula, southeastern Virginia
  
  Powars and Bruce (1999) showed that the Chesapeake Bay region of southeastern Virginia was the site of an asteroid or comet impact during the late Eocene, approximately 35 million years ago (Fig. 1). Initial borehole and marine seismic-reflection data revealed a 90-km-diameter impact structure, referred to as the Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater (CBIC), that lies buried beneath the southern...
  
  Authors
  
  R. D. Catchings, D.E. Saulter, D.S. Powars, M. R. Goldman, J.A. Dingler, G. S. Gohn, J.S. Schindler, G.H. Johnson
  
  By
  
  Natural Hazards Mission Area, Earthquake Hazards Program, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Earthquake Science Center
- March 1, 2004
  ICDP-USGS workshop on deep drilling in the central Crater of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, Virginia, USA: Proceedings volume
  
  No abstract available.
  
  Authors
  
  Lucy E. Edwards, J. Wright Horton, Gregory S. Gohn
  
  By
  
  Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Chesapeake Bay Activities
- April 19, 2007
  Site Report for USGS Test Holes Drilled at Cape Charles, Northampton County, Virginia, in 2004
  
  The U.S. Geological Survey drilled two test holes near Cape Charles, Virginia, during May and June 2004, as part of an investigation of the buried, late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure. The first hole is designated as the USGS-Sustainable Technology Park test hole #1 (USGS-STP1). This test hole was abandoned at a depth of 300 ft; cuttings samples were collected, but no cores or...
  
  Authors
  
  Gregory S. Gohn, Ward E. Sanford, David S. Powars, J. Wright Horton, Lucy E. Edwards, Roger H. Morin, Jean M. Self-Trail