See more from this Division: Topical Sessions
See more from this Session: Planetary Pummeling: Cataclysmic Bombardment of the Solar System as Catastrophe, Catalyst, Cauldron, and Crucible
Abstract:
The intention of this study is to establish how the central uplift at Manicouagan was emplaced. Impact scaling laws suggest it has undergone 10 15 km of rapid structural uplift. Four months of field work investigating the central uplift reveals a core of metamporhosed anorthositic rocks, that constitute Mont de Babel (957 m) and Maskelynite Peak (945 m), and associated high-grade, granitic and metabasic gneisses. These rocks retain their overall coherency (i.e., are not breccias), but are interspersed with pseudotachylite veins typically 1 mm to 15 cm thick. Sporadically distributed anastamosing, multi-vein pseudotachylite systems, 1 to 2 m wide, are interconnected by more pervasive subsidiary veins that occur at angles to these multi-vein zones. Where observed, offset associated with the pseudotachylite zones is typically 20-30 cm. Initial results indicate that the pseudotachylite systems have facilitated movement within the host rocks, but are unlikely to have enabled kilometer-scale displacements necessary for central uplift formation.
See more from this Division: Topical Sessions
See more from this Session: Planetary Pummeling: Cataclysmic Bombardment of the Solar System as Catastrophe, Catalyst, Cauldron, and Crucible