An Extended Field of Crater Structures in Egypt: Observations and Hypotheses

Philippe Paillou (1, 2, 3) , Bruno Reynard (4) , J.-M. Malézieux (5) , J. Dejax (6) , Essam Heggy (7) , P. Rochette (8) , W. U. Reimold (9) , P. Michel (10) , David Baratoux (11)

1 L3AB - Laboratoire d'astrodynamique, d'astrophysique et d'aéronomie de bordeaux
2 OASU - Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers
3 LAB - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux [Pessac]
4 ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon
5 UB - Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1
6 CERSP - Conservation des espèces, Restauration et Suivi des Populations
7 LPI - Lunar and Planetary Institute [Houston]
8 CEREGE - Centre européen de recherche et d'enseignement des géosciences de l'environnement
9 HU Berlin - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin = Humboldt University of Berlin = Université Humboldt de Berlin
10 OCA - Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur
11 UMS 831 - Services communs OMP

We detected more than 1000 crater structures in the Western Egyptian Desert, distributed over 40000 km2, among which 62 were studied on the field. Two hypotheses are proposed for their origin: hydrothermal vent complexes or impact craters generated by a rubble-pile asteroid.

Domaines: Cosmologie et astrophysique extra-galactique [astro-ph.CO]; Astrophysique [astro-ph]

Philippe Paillou, Bruno Reynard, J.-M. Malézieux, J. Dejax, Essam Heggy, et al.. An Extended Field of Crater Structures in Egypt: Observations and Hypotheses. 37nd Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, March 13-17, 2006, League City, Texas, abstract no.1286, NASA, Lunar and Planetary Institute, 2006, League City, Texas, United States. ⟨hal-00020426⟩