Geologic Analysis of Large Impact Basins, Oil and Gas Exploration
Impact Crater Study Group
Impact Crater Study Group
Interference patterns of the Eocene Wanapitei Lake simple impact structure overprinting the Precambrian Sudbury multi-ringed impact structure's veins. The quartz veins from the Sudbury event are offset by the dry, unfilled open fractures from the Wanapitei structure. Location is the Skead Bay, along the south shore of Wanapitei Lake. PS: if you find this rockhammer, lemme know, argh....
Midcontinent rift, middle America, Bouguer gravity and interpretation. Gold hydrogen potential?
Recumbent folds filling in the transient crater at Upheaval Dome and Bee Bluff.
Marquez Dome crater, north crater moat just inside the rim. Gravity slides in to the transient crater.
Upheaval Dome crater moat purple sandstone breccia, 100x magnification.
Upper Miocene, 5.7 Ma, local extinction event. Partially petrified (silicified) and partially coalified tree stump from the Kilcher beach, new Homer, Alaska. Dozens to hundreds of in-place tree stumps during Upper Beluga time, approximately 5.7 Ma, suggest a catastrophic event that drowned the trees with saltwater incursion, similar to the drownings that occurred during Alaska’s catastrophic 1964 earthquake, which registered a magnitude of 9.2 on the Richter scale.
“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 such as potassium-argon, apatite fission track, paleontology and palynology, carbon-14, and other methods. 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.