Shock petrographic and numerical modeling constraints on the morphology and size of the Morokweng impact structure, South Africa

Abstract

Abstract The 369 m deep M4 drill hole, located ~18 km NNW of the center of the 146 Ma Morokweng impact structure (MIS), intersects shocked Archean granitoid gneisses and subsidiary dolerite intrusions that are cut by faults, cataclasites and mm‐ to m‐wide suevitic and pseudotachylitic breccia dikes. The shock features in quartz in the gneisses and breccia dikes include decorated planar deformation features (PDFs), planar fractures, feather features, and toasting. Other minerals show features that may be shock‐related, such as multiple sets of planar features and alternate twin ladder structures in feldspars, kink bands in biotite, and planar features in titanite, apatite, and zircon; however, these are variably annealed and/or overprinted by hydrothermal alteration effects, and confirmation of their origin awaits further study. Universal Stage measurements of PDF sets in quartz from 12 gneissic target rocks and from lithic and mineral clasts in three suevitic and three pseudotachylitic breccia dikes reveal four dominant sets: (0001), {}, {} and {}. Based on these observations, the average peak shock pressure in these rocks is estimated at ≤16 GPa, which supports the original proximity (within one transient cavity radius) of these rocks to the point of impact. No discernible depth‐dependent shock attenuation was noted in the core. These shock levels and the elevated structural position of the rocks in the M4 core relative to the impact melt sheet intersected in drill holes closer to the center of the MIS suggest that the M4 lithologies represent part of the parautochthonous peak ring volume that subsequently experienced 1.5–2 km of post‐impact erosion before it was buried beneath younger sediments. Numerical modeling using the iSALE‐2D code suggests that the original Morokweng crater had a rim‐to‐rim diameter of between 70 and 80 km, and that the rocks in the M4 core were originally located at a depth of 7–8 km and a radial distance of 8–9 km from the point of impact.