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Impacts, Tillites, And The Breakup Of Gondwanaland, Verne R. Oberbeck, John R. Marshall, Hans Aggarwal

United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Publications

Mathematical analysis demonstrates that substantial impact crater deposits should have been produced during the last 2 Gy of Earth's history. Textures of impact deposits are shown to resemble textures of tillites and diamictites of Precambrian and younger ages. The calculated thickness distribution for impact crater deposits produced during 2 Gy is similar to that of tillites and diamictites ≤2 Ga. We suggest, therefore, that some tillites/diamictites could be of impact origin. Extensive tillite/diamictite deposits predated continental flood basalts on the interior of Gondwa- naland. Significantly, other investigators have already associated impact cratering with flood basalt volcanism and continental rifting. Thus, …