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Impact origin of the Chesapeake Bay structure and the source of the North American tektites

January 1, 1996

Seismic profiles, drill core samples, and gravity data suggest that a complex impact crater ~35.5 million years old and 90 kilometers in diameter is buried beneath the lower Chesapeake Bay. The breccia that fills the structure contains evidence of shock metamorphism, including impact melt breccias and multiple sets of planar deformation features (shock lamellae) in quartz and feldspar. The age of the crater and the composition of some breccia clasts are consistent with the Chesapeake Bay impact structure being the source of the North American tektites.

Publication Year 1996
Title Impact origin of the Chesapeake Bay structure and the source of the North American tektites
DOI 10.1126/science.271.5253.1263
Authors C. Koeberl, C. W. Poag, W.U. Reimold, D. Brandt
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Science
Index ID 70018511
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center