Economic Deposits at Terrestrial Impact Structures

Grieve, R. A. F.

doi:10.1002/9781118447307.ch12

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…Finally, as noted at the outset of this contribution, in the past couple of decades it has been recognized that the majority of craters on Earth above a few km in diameter have generated local hydrothermal systems (e.g., Kirsimäe and Osinski, 2012;Naumov, 2005;Osinski et al, 2013). Such systems are important for astrobiology (Osinski et al, 2020c) and economic geology (Grieve, 2012), and result in alteration of impactites, complicating our understanding of impact cratering processes and products. The description of hydrothermal alteration products in terrestrial craters, however, is outside the scope of this contribution and the reader is referred to reviews by Naumov (2005), Kirsimäe and Osinski (2012), Osinski et al (2013) and references, therein.…”

Section: Allochthonous Impactitesmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…The Impact Earth website (http://www.impactearth.com) will be a living resource for those who wish to track what has changed over time. We note that we do not cover post-impact processes, such as impact-generated hydrothermal systems (Kirsimäe and Osinski, 2012;Osinski et al, 2013), the destructive environmental effects (Schulte et al, 2010), or the positive beneficial effects for microbial life (Osinski et al, 2020b) and generation of economic resources (Grieve, 2012;. Finally, we also acknowledge that the Canadian context is preferentially used here to illustrate some of the properties and challenges of the terrestrial record (e.g., in determining rim diameter, even in relatively fresh structures), which is related to the first two authors having conducted the bulk of their field and laboratory studies at Canadian impact sites.…”

Section: Rare Yes and Nomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, however, studies have shown that impacts can also be beneficial for life, from delivering and/or generating many of the necessary chemical ingredients for life to creating habitats for life in the form of hydrothermal systems, crater lakes, and substrates such as glasses, clays, and porous rocks (see recent review by Osinski et al, 2020a). Many of the worlds impact craters are also known to host ore deposits or hydrocarbon reservoirs, such that the beneficial effects of impacts extend from creating conditions suitable to life to economic resources (Grieve, 2012;.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Impact Earth: A review of the terrestrial impact record

Osinski

Grieve

Ferrière

et al. 2022

Earth-Science Reviews

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Section: Allochthonous Impactitesmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Rare Yes and Nomentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact Earth: A review of the terrestrial impact record

Osinski

Grieve

Ferrière

et al. 2022

Earth-Science Reviews

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“…This estimate is mainly based on gold and uranium deposits with an annual income of more than US$7 billion in the Vredefort structure of South Africa and North American deposits with a revenue of more than US$5 billion. It excludes the extraction of construction materials, tourism or income from hydroelectric power generation, such as the tourism industry in Chesapeake Bay, USA and the 200 million dollars per year of hydroelectric power in the Manicouagan crater in Canada (Grieve, 2013).…”

Section: Impact Record Of the Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

The potential of economic ore deposits related to meteorite impact structures

Zhu¹

2018

GEORS

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At present, research on impact tectonics mainly covers the following aspects: 1. The structure and formation mechanism of the impact crater; 2. The ore-forming mineralization in impact structures; and 3. The economic and geological significance of impact structures. The study of impact structure not only has academic significance but also practical economic and geological significance. Economic deposits associated with impact structures range from world-class to relatively local deposits. There are three types of deposits: progenetic, syngenetic and epigenetic. There is increasing evidence that large-scale impact structures are often associated with economic deposits. Many impact structures can be targets for resource exploration but still need to be discovered. The exploration of impact structures is hindered by technology and sea-land erosion, and a considerable number of craters have been likely buried. Based on the economic deposits associated with these structures, further resource discovery and extraction has great potential.

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“…Some generalities of the types of deposits are given in Table 1 and only a few examples of the larger and more important deposits are given here. For more comprehensive coverage of the full range of natural resources occurring in association with terrestrial impact structures, the reader is referred to Reimold et al (2005) and Grieve (2012).…”

Section: The Terrestrial Impact Record: An Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Logan Medallist 4. Large-Scale Impact and Earth History

Grieve

2017

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The current record of large-scale impact on Earth consists of close to 200 impact structures and some 30 impact events recorded in the stratigraphic record, only some of which are related to known structures. It is a preservation sample of a much larger production population, with the impact rate on Earth being higher than that of the moon. This is due to the Earth’s larger physical and gravitational cross-sections, with respect to asteroidal and cometary bodies entering the inner solar system. While terrestrial impact structures have been studied as the only source of ground-truth data on impact as a planetary process, it is becoming increasingly acknowledged that large-scale impact has had its effects on the geologic history of the Earth, itself. As extremely high energy events, impacts redistribute, disrupt and reprocess target lithologies, resulting in topographic, structural and thermal anomalies in the upper crust. This has resulted in many impact structures being the source of natural resources, including some world-class examples, such as gold and uranium at Vredefort, South Africa, Ni–Cu–PGE sulphides at Sudbury, Canada and hydrocarbons from the Campeche Bank, Mexico. Large-scale impact also has the potential to disrupt the terrestrial biosphere. The most devastating known example is the evidence for the role of impact in the Cretaceous–Paleocene (K–Pg) mass extinction event and the formation of the Chicxulub structure, Mexico. It also likely had a role in other, less dramatic, climatic excursions, such as the Paleocene–Eocene–Thermal Maximum (PETM) event. The impact rate was much higher in early Earth history and, while based on reasoned speculation, it is argued that the early surface of the Hadean Earth was replete with massive impact melt pools, in place of the large multiring basins that formed on the lower gravity moon in the same time-period. These melt pools would differentiate to form more felsic upper lithologies and, thus, are a potential source for Hadean-aged zircons, without invoking more modern geodynamic scenarios. The Earth-moon system is unique in the inner solar system and currently the best working hypothesis for its origin is a planetary-scale impact with the proto-Earth, after core formation at ca. 4.43 Ga. Future large-scale impact is a low probability event but with high consequences and has the potential to create a natural disaster of proportions unequalled by other geologic processes and threaten the extended future of human civilization, itself.RÉSUMÉLe bilan actuel de traces de grands impacts sur la Terre se compose de près de 200 astroblèmes et d'une trentaine d’impacts enregistrés dans la stratigraphie, dont seulement certains sont liés à des astroblèmes connus. Il s'agit d'échantillons préservés sur une population d’événements beaucoup plus importante, le taux d'impact sur Terre étant supérieur à celui de la lune. Cela tient aux plus grandes sections transversales physiques et gravitationnelles de la Terre sur la trajectoire des astéroïdes et comètes qui pénètrent le système solaire interne. Alors que les astroblèmes terrestres ont été étudiés comme étant la seule source de données avérée d’impacts en tant que processus planétaire, de plus en plus on reconnaît que les grands impacts ont eu des effets sur l'histoire géologique de la Terre. À l’instar des événements d'énergie extrême, les impacts redistribuent, perturbent et remanient les lithologies impliquées, provoquant dans la croûte terrestre supérieure des anomalies topographiques, structurelles et thermiques. Il en a résulté de nombreux astroblèmes à l’origine de ressources naturelles, dont certains exemples de classe mondiale tels que l'or et l'uranium à Vredefort en Afrique du Sud, les sulfures de Ni–Cu–PGE à Sudbury au Canada, et les hydrocarbures du Banc de Campeche au Mexique. Les grands impacts peuvent également perturber la biosphère terrestre. L'exemple le plus dévastateur connu nous est donné des indices du rôle de l'impact dans l'extinction de masse au Crétacé–Paléogène (K–Pg) et la formation de la structure de Chicxulub, au Mexique. Il a également probablement joué un rôle dans d'autres événements climatiques extraordinaires moins dramatiques, comme le Maximum thermal du Paleocène–Eocène (PETM). Le taux d'impact était beaucoup plus élevé au début de l'histoire de la Terre et, tout en étant basé sur une spéculation raisonnée, on fait valoir que la surface précoce de la Terre à l’Hadéen était tapissée de grands bassins en fusion, au lieu de grands bassins à couronnes multiples tels ceux qui se sont formés à la même période sur la lune ayant une gravité inférieure. Ces bassins en fusion se seraient différenciées pour constituer des lithologies plus felsiques sur le dessus, devenant ainsi une source potentielle de zircons d’âge Hadéen, sans qu’il soit nécessaire d’invoquer des scénarios géodynamiques plus récents. Le système Terre-lune est unique dans le système solaire interne. Actuellement la meilleure hypothèse de travail pour son origine est un impact planétaire avec la proto-Terre, après la formation du noyau à env. 4,43 Ga. La probabilité d’un futur grand impact est faible mais comporte des conséquences capables d’engendrer un désastre naturel aux proportions inégalées comparé à d'autres processus géologiques, menaçant l'avenir de la civilisation humaine elle-même.

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Economic Deposits at Terrestrial Impact Structures

Cited by 10 publications

References 74 publications

Impact Earth: A review of the terrestrial impact record

Impact Earth: A review of the terrestrial impact record

The potential of economic ore deposits related to meteorite impact structures

Logan Medallist 4. Large-Scale Impact and Earth History

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