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Microscopic impactor debris in the soil around Kamil crater (Egypt): Inventory, distribution, total mass, and implications for the impact scenario

Folco, Luigi, D'Orazio, Massimo, Fazio, Agnese, Cordier, Carole, Zeoli, Antonio, van Ginneken, Matthias, El‐Barkooky, Ahmed (2015) Microscopic impactor debris in the soil around Kamil crater (Egypt): Inventory, distribution, total mass, and implications for the impact scenario. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 50 (3). pp. 382-400. ISSN 1086-9379. E-ISSN 1945-5100. (doi:10.1111/maps.12427) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:88127)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.12427

Abstract

We report on the microscopic impactor debris around Kamil crater (45 m in diameter, Egypt) collected during our 2010 geophysical expedition. The hypervelocity impact of Gebel Kamil (Ni‐rich ataxite) on a sandstone target produced a downrange ejecta curtain of microscopic impactor debris due SE–SW of the crater (extending ~300,000 m2, up to ~400 m from the crater), in agreement with previous determination of the impactor trajectory. The microscopic impactor debris include vesicular masses, spherules, and coatings of dark impact melt glass which is a mixture of impactor and target materials (Si‐, Fe‐, and Al‐rich glass), plus Fe‐Ni oxide spherules and mini shrapnel, documenting that these products can be found in craters as small as few tens of meters in diameter. The estimated mass of the microscopic impactor debris (<290 kg) derived from Ni concentrations in the soil is a small fraction of the total impactor mass (~10 t) in the form of macroscopic shrapnel. That Kamil crater was generated by a relatively small impactor is consistent with literature estimates of its pre‐atmospheric mass (>20 t, likely 50–60 t).

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1111/maps.12427
Subjects: Q Science > QE Geology > QE515 Geochemistry
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Natural Sciences > Physics and Astronomy
Funders: Ministero degli Affari Esteri (https://ror.org/02jkm3388)
Depositing User: Matthias van Ginneken
Date Deposited: 14 May 2021 10:14 UTC
Last Modified: 21 Sep 2022 15:33 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/88127 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

van Ginneken, Matthias.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2508-7021
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