Geologic Analysis of Large Impact Basins, Exploring Our Natural Resources
Astrobleme.Org

Astrobleme.Org
D.B. Buthman’s book "Decoding Astrobleme Potential" describes an alternative approach for locating earth’s vital resources through the study of astroblemes. Astroblemes are eroded craters that are formed when asteroids, meteorites or comets impact the Earth. This book convincingly argues that future resource exploration must harness the oil, gas and mineral potential of those impact craters.
This is science writing at its very best. The book is packed with facts and analysis for experts while remaining accessible to lay readers. Our planet’s growing need to identify alternative sources of sustainable energy should position this book near the top of everyone’s reading list.
Oddly, the importance of astroblemes for resource eploration seems to have been largely missed by the mainstream orthodoxy. However, the fact and analysis presentation in this new book should trigger a reexamination of the orthodoxy. To its credit, the book is well organized and never gets lost in its voluminous presentation of facts and analysis. It also contains a helpful collection photographs and diagrams to illustrate technical points for the lay reader.
This book is well-written and is also highly entertaining. The author has been “in the field” for over forty years and has many interesting tales to tell. Where else could you turn for a vivid explanation of what happens below the surface during an underground nuclear test? To learn what finds at “Baby Head Hill Cemetery” in Texas? Or to learn about Reidite, a rare mineral the world’s known supply of which would fit under your finger nail?
This book will leave you feeling more hopeful. While we might well wonder whether current efforts to harvest renewable energy sources will be sufficient, it is encouraging to find that someone is seeking energy solutions outside the box. Buthman is optimistic and enthusiastic about the resource potential of astrobleme exploration. This is a feel-good geology book and well worth a read.
-J. Horstman, July 8, 2025
A great read. Well written for the geologist and non-geologist alike.
-Ben Siks, July 7, 2025
A must read for any geologist or adjacent professions. Provocative & heretical ideas in this book, but Dave constructs his arguments / logic so well that it cannot be ignored and even the most fundamental geologist has to at least question what they've been taught. Most interesting read I've had in years, but I'm just a driller.
- J. Lawley, June 12, 2025
David Buthman is the James T Kirk of Geology ...
It's refreshing to see the issue of tectonic catastrophism raised and illustrated for Earth. This work elevates the awareness of extraterrestrial bombardment into a more prominent place when considering Earthly tectonics. It also raises a very profound concern regarding current tectonic theories' adherence to geological uniformitarianism.
-Dr. G.C. Herman, June 20, 2022
"It's a great read. Haven't enjoyed one this much since John McPhee's, "In Suspect Terrain.""
-T. Shaw, April 13, 2022
I read this book with great interest. It brings together a plethora of data and examples demonstraing a crucial role in some cases of the presence of a meteorite crater in developing oil, gas, and mineral accumulations. There are several good examples demonstrating the relationship of craters helping in forming traps to aid in accumulations of minerals and petroleum. This is a good addition to any resource library.
-Orion555, November 11, 2022
"Plate Tectonics is dead!"
It's so logical. I call Dave the next Issac Newton."
- M. DeB, June 26, 2022
...While plate tectonics is superior to the "Dental Theory" ... it is inferior to Impact Accretion Tectonics. Do yourself a favor and read this modern theory book: Impact Crater Tectonics: The Future of Resource Exploration.
-L. Isham, September 9, 2023
Greetings from the Great Basin, Nevada, site of a giant multiringed impact basin.
Songlaio Basin, China, magnetics showing central crater and radiating arms.
Coarse breccia from the ""spires" at the Sante Fe impact structure, New Mexico.
North America magnetics shaded relief. Cenote rings plotted as black dots encircling the center of the Chicxulub Impact center. Surficial geology polygons are shown, ultramafic rocks plotted black. Oil fields are green.
Earth gravity centered on the Tibetan Platform.
Extinction event on the Chattanooga Shale at the Flynn Creek impact, Tennessee. Gray to dark gray petroliferous fissile shales.
“Impact Crater Studies” interrogates the hidden potential energy transferred to the Earth during meteor, asteroid, and comet impacts. A vast amount of kinetic energy is instantaneously transformed into potential energy at these impact sites. Most of this energy is expended quickly, cooling, deforming rocks. Most of it. The rest of it is a secret, worthy of pursuit: oil and gas, gold, rare earth elements, metals.
For known and suspected impact craters, we conduct: 1) geophysical surveys, 2) geologic field studies, and 3) laboratory analyses including thin section petrography, CT-Scans, x-ray diffractometry, magnetic susceptibility, specific gravity, geochemistry, vitrinite reflectance, and age dating . Data collections precede hypotheses construction.
To develop cross-functional relationships between different arms of the geosciences, from academia, government, and industry--interactions that promote dreaming, and scientific discovery. Too often industry ridicules academia, academia ridicules industry, everyone ridicules government, too little scientific promotion. We attempt to bridge the learnings from academia, government, and industry as it pertains to large impact events.
Greetings from the Great Basin, Nevada, site of a giant ... er ... multiringed impact basin.
David B. Buthman has 42 years oil and gas exploration and development experience working for Union Oil Company of California, Chevron, and then Hilcorp. He currently works full-time evaluating astrobleme prospects worldwide, for oil and gas-, but also for mineral potential.
G.C. Herman, PhD: A professional geologist that has mapped and researched Appalachian geology for over three decades with the New Jersey Geological Survey. He taught Earth Science as an adjunct professor at various colleges, and has been recently conducting geoarchaeological research and writing about his findings. His research and publications are on-line through www.impacttectonics.org.
Lindell C. Bridges: President of Pure Earth Resources, a geoscience firm with offices in Edmond, Oklahoma, and Sharpsville, Pennsylvania. By education and training, Lindell is a geologist with more than forty-one years of experience in development and exploration in the oil and gas industry in addition to a few mining projects. About half of his career has been working unconventional plays.
Legacy thinking stool.
Dr. Herman on the rails to discovery, Sudbury, Ontario.
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