Chicxulub and the Exploration of Large Peak-Ring Impact Craters through Scientific Drilling

David Kring (1) , Philippe Claeys (2) , Sean P.S. Gulick (3) , Joanna Morgan (4) , Ruben Ocampo-Torres (5) , David Smith (6) , Chris Delahunty (7) , Erwan Le Ber (8) , Laurent Brun , Gilles Henry (9) , Jehanne Paris (10) , Sonia Tikoo (11) , William Zylberman (12) , Philippe Pezard (13) , Bernard Celerier (10) , Douglas Schmitt , Chris Nixon (14) , Ulrich Riller (15) , Michael Poelchau (16) , Auriol Rae (17) , Felix Schulte , H. Jay Melosh (18) , Richard Grieve (12) , Sean P S Gulick (19) , Johanna Lofi (10) , Abdoulaye Diaw , Naoma Mccall (3) , Gareth Collins (20)

1 LPI - Lunar and Planetary Institute [Houston]
2 VUB - Vrije Universiteit Brussel
3 IG - Institute of Geophysics [Austin]
4 Imperial College London
5 ICPEES - Institut de chimie et procédés pour l'énergie, l'environnement et la santé
6 Center for Metamaterials and Integrated Plasmonics
7 DOSECC Exploration Services
8 Department of Geology [Leicester]
9 CRULH - Centre de Recherche Universitaire Lorrain d'Histoire
10 Géosciences Montpellier
11 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences [Piscataway]
12 CPSX - Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration [London, ON]
13 Transferts en milieux poreux
14 University of Alberta
15 Institut für Geologie
16 Geology
17 Department of Earth Science and Technology [Imperial College London]
18 EAPS - Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences [West Lafayette]
19 Department of Geological Sciences [Austin]
20 Department of Earth Science and Engineering [Imperial College London]

The Chicxulub crater is the only well-preserved peak-ring crater on Earth and linked, famously, to the K-T or K-Pg mass extinction event. For the first time, geologists have drilled into the peak ring of that crater in the International Ocean Discovery Program and International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (IODP-ICDP) Expedition 364. The Chicxulub impact event, the environmental calamity it produced, and the paleobiological consequences are among the most captivating topics being discussed in the geologic community. Here we focus attention on the geological processes that shaped the ~200-km-wide impact crater responsible for that discussion and the expedition’s first year results.

Domaines: Planète et Univers [physics]; Chimie; Sciences de l'environnement

David Kring, Philippe Claeys, Sean P.S. Gulick, Joanna Morgan, Ruben Ocampo-Torres, et al.. Chicxulub and the Exploration of Large Peak-Ring Impact Craters through Scientific Drilling. GSA Today, 2017, 562 (7728), pp.4-8. ⟨10.1130/GSATG352A.1⟩. ⟨hal-02381021⟩