Originally presented 7 May 2005
Dallas Abbott has shared her investigations about underwater impact craters during the past few E2C series. It is always a pleasure to hear her discuss her latest discoveries. This year, she will describe work she and colleagues have done in the central Indian Ocean.
You can read more about her research in an abstract about this research from a recent scientific conference available in the “Cutting-Edge Research” section.
Continuing our tradition at the final E2C workshop of the academic year, we will indulge ourselves in a kayak paddle on the Hudson River during the afternoon. For information about the geology, hydrology, and social history of the Tallman Saltmarsh and Sparkill-Piermont section of the Hudson River, as well as images from previous trips, go to: http://www.earth2class.org/virtualtour/index.php
Introduction to this Workshop
Here is the introductory slide show presented by Dr. Passow.
Click on your preferred format: PowerPoint or pdf.
To download the PowerPoint to your computer, click using the right button of your mouse, and choose Save Target As… from the Menu that appears. Then a window will open allowing to choose in which folder you want to save the presentation to. Choose a local drive, or your “My Documents” folder on the desktop, click OK and save. This PowerPoint presentation will be saved to your local computer.
Feel free to use any or all of our resources with your students. They are being organized here for your convenience. We just ask that you cite the source. You can also modify presentations to better accommodate your specific needs.
Cutting-Edge Research
Dallas Abbott has shared her investigations about underwater impact craters during the past few E2C series. It is always a pleasure to hear her discuss her latest discoveries.
Click here for her PowerPoint (in pdf format).
This year, she will describe work she and colleagues have done in the central Indian Ocean. Below is an abstract about this research from a recent scientific conference.
Burckle Abyssal Impact Crater: Did this Impact Produce a Global Deluge?
Dallas H. Abbott1, W. Bruce Masse3, Dee Breger2, and Lloyd Burckle1
1 Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964
2 Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545n
3 Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
We have found an impact crater that is likely < 6000 years old. Burckle Crater is in the central Indian Ocean at 30.87° S 61.36°E. The crater is 31±1 km wide. The crater is deepest SE of its center. There is a deep gouge in the surface topography to the SE and a topographically smooth area NW of the crater rim. These topographic features suggest that the impactor came from the SE and that the tektite field lies NW of the crater rim. We are looking for tektites in young abyssal sediments from NW of the crater. Because the impactor hit a fracture zone wall, the rim of Burckle crater is unusually well defined. The crater rim shows evenly spaced notches that we interpret as resurge gullies. Near Burckle crater, we found a 26 cm thick layer with high magnetic susceptibility that extends to the top of core DODO132P. DODO132P has a basal age of Pleistocene. The high susceptibility layer contains numerous Mn oxide coated rock fragments, as expected for an ejecta layer from an impact that fragmented a fracture zone wall. These fragments do not resemble typical Mn nodules. We also found clear fragments of mid-ocean ridge type plagioclase and a grain of NiC with a metallic luster. The NiC is clearly a fragment of the impactor as it has an ablation rind of oxidized NiC that forms drops on the surface of the grain. The NiC contains no significant Fe and we interpret it as a piece of a comet. Burckle crater impact event is in the right location to be the source of devastating rains, tsunamis, winds, and associated social upheaval around 2807 B.C.
(Masse W.B. (in press) The archaeology and anthropology of Quaternary period cosmic impact. In: P Bobrowsky and H Rickman (eds.) Comet/Asteroid Impacts and Human Society. Springer.)
Dallas frequently uses an impact effect model created by Robert Marcus, H. Jay Melosh, and Gareth Collins:
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/
Classroom Resources
LESSON PLAN: “BLAST FROM THE PAST – IMPACT CRATERS”
[An “Earth2Class Workshops for Teacher” Module]
Created by: Mirtha Landaira, Lawrence Leung, and Linda McCall
E2C Summer Curriculum Development Workshop, Summer 2004
Impact Simulation Model suggested by Dallas Abbott:
“Earth Impact Effects Program”: an easy-to-use, interactive web site for estimating the regional environmental consequences of an impact on Earth http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/
Hawai’i Space Grant College Teacher Page
http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/CratersTe.html
http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/CrateringDoc.html
Impact Cratering on a Rainy Day
http://www.teacherlink.usu.edu/tlnasa/units/PlanetaryGeology/9.pdf
Explore Craters
http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/craters.html
“Crater Crazy” by Andrea Gianopoulos
http://www.astronomy.com/content/static/parentsteachers/activities/cratercrazy.asp
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Of course, the best way to find useful materials for your students is through aDLESE search:
www.dlese.org
Other Resources for This Topic
SELECTED WEB SITES ABOUT IMPACT CRATERS
Terrestrial Impact Craters site—Calvin J. Hamilton
http://www.solarviews.com/eng/tercrate.htm
Educator’s Guide to Impact Craters
http://www.solarviews.com/eng/edu/craters.htm
Asteroid and Comet Impact Hazards
http://impact.arc.nasa.gov/index.html
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/SIC/impact_cratering/intro/
Terrestrial Impact Craters, 2nd ed. by Christian Koeberl and Virgil L. Sharpton
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/slidesets/craters/
Hawai’i Space Grant College Teacher Page
http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/CratersTe.html
http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/CrateringDoc.html
Impact Cratering on a Rainy Day
http://www.teacherlink.usu.edu/tlnasa/units/PlanetaryGeology/9.pdf
Explore Craters
http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/craters.html
“Crater Crazy” by Andrea Gianopoulos
http://www.astronomy.com/content/static/parentsteachers/activities/cratercrazy.asp
Asteroid impact craters could cradle life (NewScientist.com, 10 Sep 2004)
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6383
SELECTED WEB SITES ABOUT TSUNAMIS
US Geological Survey Southeast Asia FAQ
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqinthenews/2004/usslav/neic_slav_faq.html
USGS Tsunami Information Links
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/bytopic/tsunami.html
Unearthing Proof of a Tsunami in the Northwest
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4629401
University of Washington “Tsunami!
”http://www.geophys.washington.edu/tsunami/intro.html
USGS Coastal & Marine Geology Program
http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/tsunami/
FEMA Hazards—Tsunamis
http://www.fema.gov/hazards/tsunamis/
NWS Tsunami Awareness Page
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/okx/tsunami.html
SELECTED WEB SITES ABOUT NEW ZEALAND AND PACIFIC TSUNAMIS
DID A BOLIDE IMPACT CAUSE CATASTROPHIC TSUNAMIS IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND?
ABBOTT, Dallas H.1, MATZEN, Andrew1, BRYANT, Edward A.2, and PEKAR, Stephen F.1
(1) Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, PO Box 1000, Palisades, NY 10964-8000, dallas@ldeo.columbia.edu, (2) Faculty of Science, Univ of Wollongong, Wollongong, 2522, Australia
http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2003AM/finalprogram/abstract_65239.htm
New Zealand Hazard Watch
http://www.gns.cri.nz/hazardwatch/latest/index.html
Tsunami Sites in New Zealand
http://www.usc.edu/dept/tsunamis/newzealand/
Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/abouttsunamis.htm