Post-cratering melting of target rocks at the impact melt contact: observations from the vredefort impact structure, South Africa

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dc.contributor.authorHuber, Matthew S.
dc.contributor.authorKovaleva, Elizaveta I.
dc.contributor.authorZamyatin D.A.
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-17T09:00:17Z
dc.date.available2025-01-17T09:00:17Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.abstractImpact melt is generated following hypervelocity impact events. Emplacement of impact melt dikes, such as the Vredefort Granophyre Dikes, allow for this high temperature melt to come into contact with deeply-buried target rocks after the cratering process is completed. Our study analyzes the effects of this interaction by examining the direct contact between the Vredefort Granophyre and the granitic host at the Kopjeskraal and Lesutoskraal Granophyre Dikes using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT). A several-mm-thick transition zone between the host rock and the impact melt is enriched in SiO2 and indicates preferential melting of feldspar and mica in the host rock by interaction with the impact melt. Immiscible droplets of newly-formed silicate melt migrated from the transition zone into the impact melt. We observe inundations of the impact melt along narrow fractures into the host rocks, which, in some cases, surround and incorporate fragments of the host rock into the melt body. We suggest three possible mechanisms by which components of the host rock can enter the impact melt: 1) fragmentation of the host rock prior to melt emplacement and subsequent entrainment into the melt; 2) inundations of melt around fragments of host rock at the contact, followed by incorporation of the host rock into the melt; 3) melting of the host rock and immiscible migration of melt fragments within the impact melt.
dc.identifier.citationHuber, M.S., Kovaleva, E., Zamyatin, D.A., Davletshina, A.A., Fernandez, V. and Salge, T., 2024. Post-cratering melting of target rocks at the impact melt contact: Observations from the Vredefort impact structure, South Africa. Chemical Geology, 654, p.122037.
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2024.122037
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10566/19805
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherElsevier B.V.
dc.subjectBallen silica
dc.subjectImmiscible melts
dc.subjectImpact melt
dc.subjectSi-oversaturation
dc.subjectμCT
dc.titlePost-cratering melting of target rocks at the impact melt contact: observations from the vredefort impact structure, South Africa
dc.typeArticle

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