[Rockhounds] Giant impact crater near India?

[Earl R. Verbeek]

Thanks, Pete,

This appeared as a news item on yesterday's Terra Daily Express, but the
graphic wasn't working -- nice to get a version where it does.  The K-T
boundary events are starting to make sense now, and as usual in geologic
controversies with strongly opposing views, it will probably turn out that
all parties were right to some degree.

          Cheers-   Earl

-----Original Message-----
From: rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com
[mailto:rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com] On Behalf Of Pmodreski at aol.com
Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2009 10:15 AM
To: rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com
Subject: [Rockhounds] Giant impact crater near India?

Hi Rockhounds,
 
Here is something new--about a talk that was presented at the GSA Annual  
Meeting in Portland this week; this is the GSA press release announcement 
about  it, and if you click on the links below you can view the complete 
abstract of  the talk, plus a graphic showing the structures around the
inferred  
crater.
 
This is, as far as I've heard, a brand new hypothesis.  There have  been 
papers before arguing that the eruption of the voluminous Deccan Plateau  
flood basalts caused the K-T extinctions, not the Chixlub impact, but this
is  
the first that I've read about a huge crater inferred to occupy a basin off 
the  west coast of India; several times larger than the Chixlub crater.  It 
will  be very interesting to follow this in the future and see if this 
hypothesis  "checks out"!
 
Don H. said he was going to be at the GSA meeting; perhaps he was able to  
hear this talk in person.
 
Pete