Texas, USA Craters - Follow the money. In geology you will find a lot of interest in resource finding like minerals, oil, water. That is how they found Chicxulub, looking for oil. Craters can be an oil sink and impact is the source of surface minerals and gem stones. Most of the earth impacts pre date the oil forming period or so they think. The burnable rocks in Middle, TN are carbon impactites from one or more of the many pre high carbon periods.
Everything is bigger in Texas, including craters. This is the Geology Anomaly map which includes magnetic and gravity mapping.
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Here we go with just Texas, Looks like we lassoed them above. Yee Ha.
Arc Pattern Uranium consistent with the Gulf of Mexico Large Impact. Uranium was also impact deposited in the crater area where I live in Tennessee.
The Outlook Company makes the best Topo Maps.
Bentonite is a suspect Crater Ash Fall. >>>>>>>
There is a gypsum arc and fossil oyster shell arc across TX. I believe this to be a lateral push wave from Chicxulub.
Fossils Oyster Shells collected by Lisa Ford Brasher of Midlothian, TX. Iron Meteor Mist on surface.
Bentonite is a suspect Crater Ash Fall. >>>>>>>
Derrick Whitehead collected this specimen outside LaGrange. Alien facehugger? High shock, may have been a conglomerate. Besides iron, manganese, and silica it has a beautiful shock particle storm surface. A sequence however small the time during the impact chaos. The surface particle storm "constellationing" is also in a high shock state and has clustered into a "constellationing galaxy."
Specimen above was collected by David Chidgey at Persimmon Gap near Big Bend National Park in SW Texas. It is a high shock impactite. Silica based sand that has multi minerals it received in nano form from the shock impact blast. It also has a "Constellationing" flow surface where the shock particle storm is blasted away from the explosion. While Trinitite from the atomic bomb test is melted to this degree, impact is a kinetic based explosion and melts by shock pressure wave. Atomic weapons are a heat dominate explosion that also produces a pressure wave.
<< Would you look at all those crater wall faults! Was a really big Gulf Impact.
The only thing they got right here is the depth and perhaps the date.
And here you can see the big offshore crater. This is way bigger than Chicxulub. Perhaps 5 times as big or more. Later the Chicxulub Impact modified the east side of the crater.
You can see a recent presentation on the geology of the Gulf of Mexico at:
https://www.gcags.org/exploreanddiscover/2016/00070_keller_et_al.pdf
Katie Cook of Comanche, TX found this tri welded impact spheroid group. This is a phenomena like hail stones but caused by the explosion melt on impact which is launched outward. In this case the spheres did not get a chance to form independently.
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OBITUARY OF MICHAEL STUART STANTON
October 1, 1917 – June 23, 2014 With loving memory and great sadness, our family announces the passing of our dear Michael at the age of 96 years on Monday, June 23, 2014 at the Foothills Medical Centre, Calgary. Michael passed away peacefully with his family at his side. Michael Stuart Stanton was born in Leamington, Warwickshire, England on October 1, 1917, and immigrated to Canada in 1919 with his parents. He attended the University of Manitoba receiving a Bachelor of Science degree (Honours) in Geology in 1939 and Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, receiving a Master’s degree in Geological Engineering in 1941. He served as a navigator with the RCAF during the Second World War from 1943 to 1945, and married his life-long companion, and best friend, Ellie, in 1945. Mike and Ellie were married for over 62 years until Ellie passed away in 2007. Mike has been greeted by his dear Ellie and his loving parents Elizabeth and Peter. In his early career, Mike worked as a geologist, pioneering field work, mapping and mining geology in Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, the Yukon and the Arctic. During these years Mike worked with the Geological Survey of Canada, the Manitoba Mine’s Branch and the Hudson’s Bay Mining and Smelting Company (Flin Flon, Manitoba). Mike continued his career as a petroleum geologist with Chevron Standard (California Standard) in Calgary for over 33 years, from 1949 until he retired in 1982 at the age of 65 years. Mike was an accomplished and respected Geologist. He is credited with many professional papers, scientific articles, reports, publications and discoveries. His very active and inquiring mind did not dim with age. He was writing scientific articles well into his mid 80’s, several of which were picked up for publication in both Canada and the United States. Mike was a proud and lifetime member of APEGA, the CSPG and the AAPG.
First to publish the Gulf of Mexico Impact theory in 2012.
Oil as a sludge basin theory - So you have an impact depression, then what? Sludge accumulates and turns into oil. An ongoing process by the way in the Gulf.
How large a body would it take to make a crater as wide as the Gulf of Mexico?
JIM BOWERS, NEWTOWN SQUARE, PENNSYLVANIA
Published: Sunday, May 1, 2005 Astronomy Magazine
The Gulf of Mexico is the result of plate tectonics, or "continental drift," in which the plates comprising the Earth's crust change position over time. The Gulf did not even exist in the distant past, and its size and shape will slowly change as time progresses and tectonic plates move.
To simplify matters, let's replace the Gulf with a perfectly circular sea having the same total area. The Gulf has an area of about 600,000 square miles (1,554,000 square kilometers), which means we can replace it with a circular sea 875 miles (1,410 km) across. Now, there are two ways to estimate the size of an impacting object from the size of the resulting crater. The first is an old rule of thumb: An asteroid or comet will make a crater about 10 times its size, or in this case, 87.5 miles (141 km).
A more rigorous approach is to adopt mathematical relations for crater size developed from nuclear weapons tests. With some assumptions on the ground composition, this will give us the explosive energy needed to make the crater, and we can translate this number into the body's size by assuming an impact speed. To form a Gulf-size crater in rocky soil, the energy required is 14 trillion megatons. If we assume an impact speed of 45,000 mph (72,000 km/h), the culprit body must be about 51 miles (82 km) across.
Both numbers are estimates. The rule-of-thumb approach ignores the body's impact speed, the composition of the ground at the place of impact, and the composition of the comet or asteroid, among other things.
The second method is designed to account for some of these variables, but it is based on nuclear tests with relatively small explosive yields — at least in comparison to the impact energies we're discussing — and there's no way to validate the results at such energies.
However, the fact that the two numbers are in the same ballpark suggests our estimates probably aren't too far off. So it would take a comet or asteroid between 50 and 100 miles (80 to 160 km) across to produce a crater the size of the Gulf of Mexico. — BILL COOKE, MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER, HUNTSVILLE,
Now what this model fails to consider is impact absorbing. An object this large does not surface explode which is how the model is based. As you can see from the gravity magnetic anomaly maps the crater contains much of it's original mass as a shock made deposit in the earth's crust. Objects this large can also even penetrate the earth's crust if going fast enough and be absorbed by accretion and inflate the mass and size of the earth.
Jacobs well near Wimberley, TX north of Austin. This is a karst feature common to crater wall rubble areas.
Improved mapping of the Gulf of Mexico shows what the earth really looks like showing cratering without vegetation. Mars has over 600,000 craters of a mile diameter or more and is about half the Earth's size. You are seeing cratering along the slope of the very large crater that made the Gulf as cratering is a progression of large to small over time as the Universe sorts its explosion material.
So lets take a look at this post Gulf of Mexico making crater, a smaller crater. It hit into a salty sea and compressed the organic material into oil. It was a direct compression hitting almost straight down but not a sphere as you can see the crater shows the mass arrangement of the impacting bolide. Jan. 19, 2023
Thomas William Bjerstedt
U.S. Department of the Interior · Gulf of Mexico Region New Orleans LA
Ph.D. West Virginia University
Meteor marbling, Fe3O4SiO2 from the central TX impact. Sept. 27, 2023.
Rockhounding For Beginners
Dawn Foreman · ·
Found this on a property we purchased in Athens Tx. I’m loving the deep red and black. Any idea what it may be? I don’t usually see these deep colors in northeast Texas unless it’s iron but this feels a bit waxy/smooth- not rough like iron. Of course it could have come from a different location….
Tubular geode. This rare linear form is made by super velocities during formation thus greatly elongating it. Oct. 16, 2023. Guy Blankenship, Mt. Home, TX, USA.
Impact nodule. When more rhythmically expelled on the shock waves you see this as boxwork. Nov. 13, 2023.
Sam Grillett · ·
Found at Wright Patman Lake in East Texas. There is iron ore all over this beach. I found this strange little guy and I’m just trying to figure out more about it. It looks like it was molten iron that got flash frozen. I don’t know enough to guess. That’s why I’m here.
Besides Chicxulub there are many other craters in the Gulf which shaped it as a depression. Dec. 16, 2023. The Texas passive margin in the northern Gulf of Mexico localized on a free air gravity anomaly map of the gulf and surrounding regions.
Cenozoic gravity tectonics in the northern Gulf of Mexico induced by crustal extension. A new interpretation of multichannel seismic data
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March 2008
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Bulletin de la Societe Geologique de France 179(2):117-128
DOI:10.2113/gssgfbull.179.2.117
Authors:
Non standard impact sphere - Hypervelocity ballistic impact in flight. Ferro silica melt temp. 3,115 F. Lava is typically 2,000 F. Slow concretion? This specimen has been hit and made impact flange. Raft/plate tectonics? Outward flange is an expansion not a compression. So where is the crater? See attached. So why have I not heard of this big crater before? Well, in fact a world famous Austrian geologist identified these as impact spheres decades ago. Geology is the slowest of all the sciences to adapt to new theory. Jan. 24, 2024.
KR Gutierrez
· ·
These are found on the surface, flat side down , half a sphere, like it landed there and cooled off, what are they???
Shock circle - Impact made. This rock was fluidized when formed. The circle center is an impalement of also simi liquid. The little black dots may be manganese. Crossing cracks/fractals are an effect of cooling stresses. Rare. Feb. 12, 2024.
Marc Whitehead · 48m ·
Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Maybe some kind of fossil. Found in West Texas near Andrews.
An impactite with plasma hole burns. Impact releases trillions of mega tons of explosion energy. While a bomb wants to make a single source explosion the impacting bolide is not uniform and it is a multi source explosion with "local effects." While the tunnels in your specimen are what you notice most the holes are indicative of plasma burns. The tunnels are just moving bubbles. Attached is a lab experiment of high energy plasma discharge. So why not worm tunnels? To petrify this effect you would need an instant method to turn moist dirt into rock. So now you have two events required. The ceramic process would be 2,000 plus degrees. Requires a catastrophic event. Also you need to produce a nodule not a strata. A piece of unfired greenware like a nodule is fragile and will dry out and crumble. Impact plasma burn holes satisfies the physics required with one event. Feb. 21, 2024.
Suhas Reddy Chavva · ·
Fossilized worm tunnels or something? Found in Lake Bryan, TX.
Lake Bryan/College Station crater shown in the region of the larger crater circle. Feb. 21, 2024.
Impact Sphere Variant - Appears to have a red clay matrix with a quartz or calcite splatter covering melt with impalements. This was a close in made sphere. March 29, 2024.
Kidd Matthew Comel County, TX
Impact spheres that appear to have manganese and Septarian surfaces. April, 22, 2024.
Carlos Contreras
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Saved theses what I believe are septarian nodules from a rock grinder a few years ago. They destroyed alot of them building the new subdivisions in Central Texas. Just thought I'd share them with you.
Impact melt with expansion voids and internal bubble isolation. Not exactly suevite. It is dissimilar minerals in a simi mixing and was very hot. The bubble is a type of rejection of materials. June 19, 2024.
ROCK IDENTIFICATION...the answer "Just a rock" NOT ALLOWED!"
Mark Moore · ·
I found this in a rock pile north of San Antonio, TX. I've no idea what it is ! Maybe some kinda Jasper? Any help?
Most impacts that make a crater make a round crater. This is because explosions expand in all directions equally. But when an incoming meteorite strikes the ground at a shallow angle — less than 15° above the local horizon — the resulting crater is no longer circular. Low-angle impacts produce craters with an oval outline. Here you can also see it came in from the west. June 19, 2024.
Big crater with crossing fault pattern in OK. The crossing pattern of faults is what you can see in smaller crater that are not buried. It is what you see when a bullet hits glass, radial and vertical cracks. See picture below. July 6, 2024.
Impact sphere cluster which would make it botryoidal. Type 2 impactite. A type 2 impactite is one that has both the impacted surface and meteor/bolide composition. A close look shows bits of iron and cobalt from the meteor/bolide. It is mostly the impacted limestone which it turned to liquid and expelled as round drops. Why a cluster? The closer to the impact the more crowded the impact drops. Are clustered impact spheres common? Not really although I have many on my encyclopedia of this phenomenon, but I collect variants for the public benefit. So where is the crater? You can see the crater on geology maps and topo maps. It is a relatively large crater and came in from the west which is a type 2 subduction type crater or what is called a crater complex. Is your rock valuable? Yes, people are fascinated by impact spheres, and it is my most popular chapter. July 17, 2024.
Matias Ruiz · ·
I was wondering if this is coprolite. I hope it is because I tell everyone its dinosaur poop lol. Found in Seguin Tx . Reminds me of what fossilized horse poop would look like. I've had to move a few times and unfortunately it's started crumbling in a few areas.
Impact Sphere/Nodules. Notice how they vary. This is related to the amount of melt when formed. Kinetic explosions are not uniform. They are multiform explosions. The iron came from the impacting bolide. Concretion theory: The idea that iron precipitates from a toxic sea is not credible. Chemically salts precipitate. Is iron oxide a salt? Not a salt
Iron oxide is not a salt1. Iron (II) oxide adopts the cubic, rock salt structure, where iron atoms are octahedrally coordinated by oxygen atoms and the oxygen atoms octahedrally coordinated by iron atoms. Next we have the Mississippi Valley Type Theory, formally known as Spring Release 19th century. It conjectures that a crack in the earth's crust released iron. In the century plus life of this theory no such crack has ever been found in association with the specimens. Impact theory: Impact explains the iron and the forms associated with the iron. Unlike Spring Release/MVT you can find a crater associated with specimens found. Take a look at the gravity map of TX. It clearly shows the associated crater. Sept. 7, 2024.
All found in San Antonio, Texas on a 40 acre construction site. Each piece very heavy. All together weighs 14 pounds. Iron oxide concretions?
The group of specimens collected by Ryan Mcneill Triplett
Impact made conglomerate. I have seen these before. The tubular nature of these it the binder/matrix arrived in a liquid state and the velocity rolled up the pebbles. Sept. 7, 2024.
Danielle Farmer · ·
The first one the only thing I can think of is some kind of coral? The other I have no idea at all. Never seen one like it before myself. Found in Fort Worth TX
Fairy stone variant, impactite. These high shock melt formerly bedrock specimens are associated with large earth impacts. The tubular point version is aerodynamically made by the high velocity of the ejected melt drop. So, what does the crater look like? Big, see attached gravity map. Crater name, Big Texas is distorted by the later impacts as the sorting nature of impacts goes from big to small over time.
Fairy stone variants, impactites from big earth impact. The teardrop shape is a result of it being liquid when ejected from crater. The false strata striation is from the imprinting shock waves. From a very old crater called "Big Texas" which has been distorted by all the many later craters. Easily 500 mya. Sept. 7, 2024.
Justin Shubert · ·
I don’t know much about geology and fossils. Found these building a fence in central Texas. Very odd looking for rocks. Are these some sort of fossil? Thank you!
What is interesting about these impact spheres is they are small, indicating a smaller crater. Sept. 7, 2024.
I would love some insight into what they articles might be - located in South Texas - Sonoran desert area. These are beautiful spheres - several are darn near perfect. Also, they do show a weak magnetism. My geology background isn’t too extensive (maybe 18 or so college hours) and my son, 8, is an avid collector of all things mineral, rock, fossil related.
Impact nodules, the iron is from the impacting meteor/bolide which forms melt blobs in the impact explosion. Note, these are also found at the Barringer/Meteor Crater, AZ. Some are cojoined as these spheres get too close and merge. Some have mosaic cracks as they cooled too fast. Cooling too fast can cause them to crack apart. Cooling slow allows for the formation of crystals which your 7 o clock specimen is doing. Impactites can be found in a blast spray like your yard. The crater that made these is a large Type 2 subduction impact. It came in from the west exploding and burying into the earth's crust. Nov. 9, 2024.
Stone Seekers
Al Brister · ·
Ferrous nodules from my yard south of San Antonio. What makes the spikes on the one at 7:00 position?
Needle Peak, TX Impact Crater. It contains shock agates. It also has impact basalt as found at the Wetumpka, AL Impact Crater. Nov. 9, 2024.
Conglomerate/breccia impact sphere from east side of Needle Peak. Nov. 9, 2024.
Impact craters above the relative lower topography. There are two ways this can happen. The first is the impacting meteor/bolide hit into a higher area in this case the Bandera Mesa which just modifies it with an impact crater. This would include the intermountain cratering. The second is a delayed explosion uplift called a crater retark. Nov. 9, 2024.
This is actually one of the best classic craters in the United States. The reason being the angle of impact. Most impacts are at 45 degrees on average this one was more straight up. The Needle Peak feature is an up-splash phenomena. Consider the attached picture by Robert A. Jones it shows plasma cavitation holes in the midground boulders. This feature is also found in Trinitite from the first atomic bomb crater only small in proportion to the explosion this explosion being thousands of times greater. Nov. 9, 2024.
