Vargeao Dome - Hypervelocity Impact Crater

Alternate Names Vargeao
Coordinates 26° 49' 2" S; 52° 10' 10" W
Notes
  1. Carana Basin (Crosta, 1985).
Country Brazil
Region Santa Catarina
Date Confirmed 2004
Notes
  1. Confirmed due to presence of shatter cones and PDF's (Kazzuo et al., 2004). Known since 1978 (Filho and Scheibe, 1978).
Buried? No
Drilled? Yes
Notes
  1. Drilled for oil.
Target Type Mixed
Notes
  1. Cretaceous-aged basalts and sandstone of the Sao Bento Group of Parana Basin. (Crosta et al., 2012) identify ~100m of a target sandstone layer in seismic reflection data. Reference is made to rocks of the Passa Dois Group being uplifted to surface (P.D. contains significant sedimentary component), but no specifics as to formation are given.
Sub-Type Basalt, Sandstone
Apparent Crater Diameter (km) 12.4 km
Age (Ma) 123 ± 1.4
Notes :
  1. 123 ± 1.4 Ma determined by U-Pb of zircons in melt rock (Nedelec et al., 2013).

Method :
  1. U-Pb
Impactor Type Unknown

Advanced Data Fields

Notes

Local Language
N/A
Erosion
5
Final Rim Diameter
Unknown
Apparent Rim Diameter
12.4 km
  1. Circular depression with diameter of 12.4 km (Kazzuo-Vieira et al., 2004).
Rim Reliability Index
2
  1. Structural uplift is ~1 km and central uplift diameter is ~3 km (Crosta et al., 2012). Gradient of 70 m exists between the central uplift and its surroundings (Kazzuo-Vieira et al., 2004).
Crater Morphology
Complex
Central Uplift Diameter
3 km
Central Uplift Height
70 m
Uplift Reliability Index
3
Structural Uplift
1 km
Thickness of Seds
~100m
Target Age
Mesozoic
Marine
No
Impactor Type
Unknown
Other Shock Metamorphism
Feather features
  1. (Crosta and Reimold, 2017)
Shatter Cones
Yes
  1. Shatter cones were found in sandstones and basalts in several locations within and around the central uplift, with individual cones reaching up to 50 cm in sandstones and 12 cm in basalts (Kazzuo-Vieira et al., 2004). Shatter cones found in sandstone from the Ghisolfi sandpit forming individual cones from 12 to 25 cm in size (Crosta et al., 2006). Aggregates of small nested cones and individual shatter cones ranging in size from 2-7 cm found in fine-grained, apparently unshocked basalt near centre of the structure in outcrops a few hundred meters from that of polymict breccias (Fig. 13C and 13D) (Crosta et al., 2012).
Planar Fractures
Yes
  1. Planar fractures in quartz found in polymict breccia (Crosta et al., 2012). Feather features developed (along, 0001) planar fractures found in a pebble from one of the conglomeratic layers at the Ghisolfi sand pit (Fig. 14a and 14b; Crosta et al., 2012).
Planar Deformation Features
Yes
  1. PDF in quartz grains in sandstone from centre of structure (Crosta et al., 2005). PDF in quartz and feldspar within sandstone (Hachiro et al., 1993). Abundant PDFs in quartz and plagioclase with up to four crystallographic directions were found within brecciated sandstones and basalts (Kazzuo-Vieira et al., 2004).
Diaplectic Glass
Yes
  1. Some mm sized fragments of basalt within polymict breccia show plagioclase transformed into diaplectic glass (Fig. 11C and 11D; Crosta et al., 2012).
Coesite
No
  1. Did not find in literature.
Stisovite
No
  1. Did not find in literature.
Crater Fill
LB, MB, M
  1. Monomict lithic breccias, melt-bearing breccias and clast-bearing melt rocks (referred to as "Brecciated volcanic rocks"). Clasts are mainly basalts and glassy material display fluidal textures (Crósta et al., 2012). Polymict lithic breccias and melt-bearing breccias. Diaplectic glass is reported (Crósta et al., 2012).
Proximal Ejecta
Unknown
Distal Ejecta
Unknown
Dykes
Unknown
Volume of Melt
Unknown
Depth of Melting
Unknown

References

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J Hachiro (2000) Four impact cratering on the Parana sedimentary basin (South America), International Geological Congress, Abstracts = Congres Geologique International, Resumes 31, [location varies], International (III): [International Geological Congress], [location varies], url

R Romano, A P Crósta (2004) Brazilian impact craters; a review, Abstracts of Papers Submitted to the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 35, p. 0-unpaginated, Houston, TX, United States (USA): Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston, TX, url

C M Poulos, W D MacDonald, J Francolin (2004) Impact shock features of the Vargeao Dome, Brazil, Meteoritics & Planetary Science 39(8), p. A85

C Kazzuo-Vieira, A P Crósta, A Choudhuri (2004) Impact features from Vargeao Dome, Southern Brazil, Meteoritics and Planetary Science 39(8), p. A52, url

C Carli, L Pittarello, F Capaccioni (2011) VNIR spectroscopic measurements of samples from basaltic impact crater rocks, Abstracts of Papers Submitted to the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 42, p. 0-1119, Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston, TX, pdf

A P Crósta, C Kazzuo-Vieira, L Pitarello, C Koeberl, T Kenkmann (2012) Geology and impact features of Vargeao Dome, Southern Brazil, Meteoritics & Planetary Science 47(1), p. 51-71, Meteoritical Society, Fayetteville, AR, url, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2011.01312.x

A Nedelec, J L Paquette, E Yokoyama, R I F Trindade, T Aigouy, D Baratoux (2013) In situ U/Pb dating of impact-produced zircons from the Vargeao Dome (southern Brazil), Meteoritics & Planetary Science 48(3), p. 420-431, Meteoritical Society, Fayetteville, AR, url, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/maps.12066

A P Crósta, M A R Vasconcelos (2013) Update on the current knowledge of the Brazilian impact craters, Abstracts of Papers Submitted to the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 44, p. 0-Abstract 1318, Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston, TX, url

J Alsemgeest, L F Auqué (2019) Preliminary results for constraining parameters in the impact-generated hydrothermal system at Vargeão Dome (Brazil) through thermodynamic modelling, Large Meteorite Impacts and Planetary Evolution VI, proceedings of the conference held September 30-October 3, 2019, pdf

J C Noest, M J Sluis, J Alsemgeest, H J L Van der Lubbe, S J A Verdegaal, F M Brouwer (2026) Rare earth elements and stable isotope signatures from hydrothermal alteration in Vargeao dome with implications for impact-generated hydrothermal systems on Mars, url

J Alsemgeest, F M Brouwer, L F Auqué, K van Zuilen, N Hauser, W U Reimold (2026) Impact Reactivation of a Hydrothermal System in Basalt in the Vargeão Dome Impact Structure, Brazil, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 131(2), doi:10.1029/2025JE008966