Charlevoix - Hypervelocity Impact Crater

Alternate Names La Malbaie Structure
Local Language
Coordinates 47° 32' 32" N; 70° 18' 12" W
Notes
  1. On the N shore of the St. Lawrence River in southern Quebec, 105 km NE of Quebec City, between the towns of La Malbaie and Baie-St-Paul.
Country Canada
Region Quebec
Date Confirmed 1966
Notes
  1. Shatter cones discovered in course of regional mapping (Rondot, 1966); further shock metamorphic evidence presented in 1968 (Rondot, 1968)
Buried? No
Drilled? Yes
Notes
  1. 1 km hole drilled by Abiogenic Fuels to look for methane.
Target Type Mixed
Notes
  1. Precambrian gneiss, overlain by Palaeozoic limestone (~0.15 km). Grenville age granitic gneisses and migmatites found in E, charnokitic gneisses in centre and N, and anorthosite and gabbro to W. The remaining (5%) rocks are Ordovician sediments, mainly limestones (Ogilvie et al., 1984).
Sub-Type Carbonate, Gneiss, Limestone, Metasedimentary, Volcanics
Apparent Crater Diameter (km) 70 km
Age (Ma) 430 - 453
Notes :
  1. Using U-Pb LA-ICP-MS, shocked zircon grains from impact melt rock gives an age of 450 ± 20 Ma; this age agrees with a maximum stratigraphic age of ~453 Ma (Schmieder et al., 2019). Additional age constraints: A single outcrop of very fine-grained impact melt was studied using K-Ar dating and gives an age of 357 ± 15 Ma; this age supports stratigraphic evidence for a late Devonian or early Carboniferous impact (Rondot, 1971).

Method :
  1. U-Pb
Impactor Type Unknown

Advanced Data Fields

Notes

Erosion
6
  1. Rim is removed, with some of the central uplift and the crater-fill products, crater floor has been preserved (Grieve, 1982).
Final Rim Diameter
Unknown
Apparent Rim Diameter
70 km
  1. On the basis of a new relationship to derive the apparent diameter using maximum shatter cone extent, the diameter is 70 km (Osinski and Ferriere, 2016). Apparent diameter previously estimated as 55 km by (Roy 1974) (Robertson, 1975)
Rim Reliability Index
3
  1. Present day morphology (not necessarily original): central mountain (Mont des Eboulements), annular peripheral trough (~5 km radial distance), an annular plateau (~10 km radial distance), and terraced rom zone (~27-35 km radial distance). Central uplift diameter taken from Figure 1 of (Schmieder et al., 2019). Amount of SU not possible to calculate based on the majority of the central uplift being crystalline rocks.
Crater Morphology
Complex
Central Uplift Diameter
>4km
Central Uplift Height
Unknown
Uplift Reliability Index
4
Structural Uplift
Unknown
Thickness of Seds
~0.15 km
Target Age
Precambrian Palaeozoic
Marine
No
Impactor Type
Other Shock Metamorphism
Pressure
  1. Maximum pressure of only 320 kb (Robertson, 1974).
Shatter Cones
Yes
  1. Rondot J. first discovered a peculiar type of conical and striated fractures during mapping of the Charlevoix area (Rondot, 1966). They were later identified as shatter cones by John G. Murtaugh and Jean-Pierre Bassaget. Shatter cones are widespread and abundant in the central uplift; they occur in charnockitic gneisses and in Middle Ordovician limestones (Rondot, 1968). There is a progressively better development of shatter cones outwards from the center of the structure to a radius of ~7 km. However, virtually all the rocks within a radius of 12 km from the center are still shatter-coned (Robertson, 1968). Nicely developed shatter cones occur only between 3 and 10 km from the center of the structure (Rondot, 1972). Shatter cones occur in every rock type within 12 km of the center of the structure (Roy and Rondot, 1970) (Roy, 1975). Shatter cones occur up to 12.4 km from the center of the structure and are most abundant around the central hills. In the sedimentary rocks they tend to be smaller in height (decimeter-scale) and mean apical angle (87° to 91°) and to have more regular and delicate features than in the crystalline rocks which have meter-scale heights and 96° to 101° of mean apicale angle (Roy, 1978). "After back rotation of the tectonic blocks, the shatter cone axes converge to a point 5-6 km above the present day ground surface at the center of the structure" (Roy, 1978). Complete cones are rare; only two were found, one in the Ordovician limestones (at Cap Corneille) and one in the charnockitic gneisses (at the middle Jean Noel river), according to (Roy, 1978). (Roy, 1978) report on shatter cones in charnockitic gneisses, in paragneisses, in anorthosite, in Ordovician limestones, in quartzite, in Ordovician arkosic sandstone, and very rarely in Ordovician shales. A 7 m high shatter cone segment was visible in the arkosic sandstone near the village of Les Eboulements (see photograph) (Roy, 1978) [now collapsed]. Length of individual full cone <1 m in sedimentary rocks (except one in conglomerate that reaches 3 m) and from 10 cm to several meters in crystalline rocks (Roy and Rondot, 1970). In sedimentary rocks, the angle between cone axes and the stratification is generally small (Roy and Rondot, 1970). Weak to moderate shatter cones are formed in gneisses in which quartz PFs/PDFs development has not occured [i.e., low pressure]; shatter cones persist to "high" shock levels, at higher shock levels than previously suspected (Robertson, 1968). Shatter cones occur in both target rock gneisses and the Middl Ordovician limestones (Fig. 3.4) (Grieve, 2006). Shatter cones do not occur on Isles aux Coudres (Grieve, 2006). Shatter cones in the Middle Ordovician limestones on the mainland are < 1 m to 3 m in length and are well-developed with fine structure (Grieve, 2006). The outer limit of detectable shatter cones lies approximately 14 km from the centre (Robertson, 1975).
Planar Fractures
No
Planar Deformation Features
Yes
  1. PDF in quartz grains (Robertson, 1968) (Rondot, 1968) (Pagel and Poty, 1975) (Robertson, 1975). PDF in feldspar grains (Robertson, 1968) (Rondot, 1968) (Robertson, 1975). Maximum pressure of only 32 GPa (Robertson, 1974). PDFs in quartz and feldspar (Fig. 3.5) (Grieve, 2006). PDFs is orthoclase and microcline (Fig. 4h) (Robertson, 1975). PDFs in quartz occur out to 10 km from the centre (Robertson 1975). See Table 1 (Robertson 1975) for estimated shock pressures using PDFs in quartz and k-feldspar. Decorated PDFs in quartz (Fig. 3.5) (Grieve, 2006). See (Fig. 3.5) (Grieve, 2006) for several orientations of PDFs in quartz. PDFs in quartz are widespread and easily detected (Fig. 7) (Robertson 1968) with the most intense shock effects occuring in the Mont des Eboulements complex of hills where quartz grains show an average of more than 5.5 sets per grain and some have up to 10 or 12 different sets (Robertson, 1968). Barely detectable planar features also occur in both ortho- and clino-pyroxenes in charnockitic gneisses from the central hills of Mont des Eboulements (Robertson, 1968). Weak-developed planar features in plagioclase within 1 km from the centre and moderatly developed in the sample take from the summit of Mont de Eboulements (Robertson, 1968). Weakly developed planar features in alkali feldspar are seen in this sample but not further from the centre (Robertson, 1968).
Diaplectic Glass
No
Coesite
No
Stisovite
No
Crater Fill
LB, MB, M
  1. (Rondot, 1971) (Rondot, 1998) (Schmieder et al., 2019) report a gray, vesicular, clas-bearing melt rock recovered from glacial till. It has a crystalline matrix dominated by quartz, K-feldspar and plagioclase. According to (Buchner et al., 2010), impactites comprise pseudotachylite dykes, impact melt rocks with variable textures (spinifex, nodular and fluidal-vesicular) and suevite-like rocks (MB). The original breccia infill is almost completely eroded.
Proximal Ejecta
Distal Ejecta
Dykes
P
Volume of Melt
Depth of Melting

References

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J Rondot (1968) Nouvel impact meteoritique fossile?; la structure semi-circulaire de Charlevoix, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences = Revue Canadienne des Sciences de la Terre 5(5), p. 1305-1317, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, ON, url, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e68-128

P B Robertson (1968) La Malbaie Structure, Quebec - A Palaeozoic meteorite impact site, Meteoritics 4(2), p. 89-112

J Rondot (1970) La structure de Charlevoix comparee a d'autres impacts meteoritiques, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences = Revue Canadienne des Sciences de la Terre 7(5), p. 1194-1202, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, ON, url, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e70-114

D J McDougall (1970) Natural thermoluminescence of calcareous rocks from the Charlevoix (Malbaie) structure, Meteoritics 5(2), p. 75-83, Arizona State University, Center for Meteorite Studies, Tempe, AZ, url

J Rondot (1970) Structure of Charlevoix compared to other meteorite impacts, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 7(5), p. 1194-+, doi:10.1139/e70-114

J Rondot (1971) Les breches d'impact de Charlevoix [abstr.], Meteoritics 6(4), p. 307-308, Arizona State University, Center for Meteorite Studies, Tempe, AZ, url

J Rondot (1971) Impactite of the charlevoix structure, Quebec, Canada, Journal of Geophysical Research 76(23), p. 5414-&, doi:10.1029/JB076i023p05414

D W Roy, J Rondot, R F Dymek (1972) La structure de crypto-explosion de Charlevoix et l'anorthosite de St-Urbain--A crypto-explosion structure at Charlevoix and the Saint Urbain anorthosite, Guidebook - International Geological Congress 24, Part B(B-06), p. 26, url

J Rondot (1972) Geologie de la Structure de Charlevoix, Report of the ... Session - International Geological Congress 24(15), p. 140-147, International Geological Congress, [location varies], url

M J Walawender (1973) X-ray (oscillation) studies of naturally shocked plagioclase from the Charlevoix Structure, Quebec, Canada, Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America 5(1), p. 118-119, Geological Society of America (GSA), Boulder, CO, url

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D W Roy (1974) Origin and Evolution of the Charlevoix Crypto-Explosion Structure (CCS), Que., Canada, Transactions-American Geophysical Union 55(4), p. 336

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J Rondot (1976) Comparaison entre les astroblemes de Siljan, Suede, et de Charlevoix, Quebec, Bulletin of the Geological Institutions of the University of Uppsala, New Series 6, p. 85-92, University of Uppsala, Institute of Geology, Uppsala, url

M J Walawender (1977) Shock-produced mosaicism in plagioclase, Charlevoix Structure, Quebec, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences = Revue Canadienne des Sciences de la Terre 14(1), p. 74-81, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, ON, url, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e77-008

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D W Roy (1979) Origin and evolution of the Charlevoix cryptoexplosion structure, Origin and evolution of the Charlevoix cryptoexplosion structure, p. 528, url

G G Morrison, W C Brisbin (1982) Impact crater morphology and its relevance to the emplacement of the Sudbury Basin ore deposits, Program with Abstracts - Geological Association of Canada; Mineralogical Association of Canada: Joint Annual Meeting 7, p. 68, Geological Association of Canada, Waterloo, ON, url

M Chouteau (1982) Prospection magnetotellurique sur des structures conductrices a trois-dimensions, Prospection magnetotellurique sur des structures conductrices a trois-dimensions, p. 281, url

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J Peters, C Beaumont (1985) Borehole tilt measurements from Charlevoix, Québec, Journal of Geophysical Research-Solid Earth and Planets 90(B14), p. 2791-2806, doi:10.1029/JB090iB14p12791

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Y Miura, T Ashida, K Okamoto (1990) Estimation of shocked pressure from density deviation of shocked quartz in impact crater and the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, LPI Contribution 746, p. 34-35, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX, url

M Mareschal, M Chouteau (1990) A magnetotelluric investigation of the structural geology beneath Charlevoix Crater, Quebec, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors 60(1-3), R D Kurtz, A G Jones, A Adam, Michael S Zhdanov (ed.), p. 120-131, Elsevier, Amsterdam, url

J W Sears, H J Melosh (1992) Collapse of large impact craters in continental lithosphere; results from finite element modelling, Geological Society of New Zealand Miscellaneous Publication 63A, David C Nobes (ed.), p. 136, Christchurch, New Zealand (NZL): Geological Society of New Zealand, Christchurch, url

J Rondot (1997) Charlevoix and Sudbury as simple readjusted craters, LPI Contribution 922, p. 48-49, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX, url

S K Smith, R A F Grieve, J Harris, M Lamontagne (1997) Characterization of terrestrial impact structures by RADARSAT, LPI Contribution 922, p. 56-57, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX, url

J Rondot (1998) Les Breches d'impact meteoritique de Charlevoix, ET - Direction Generale de l'Exploration Geologique et Minerale, p. 44, Ministere de l'Energie et des Ressources, Direction Generale de l'Exploration Geologique et Minerale, Quebec, QC, url

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E Buchner, M Schmieder, W H Schwarz, M Trieloff, J Hopp, J G Spray (2010) Dating the Charlevoix impact structure (Quebec, Canada); a tough nut to crack in (super 40) Ar/ (super 39) Ar geochronology, Abstracts of Papers Submitted to the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 41, p. Abstract 2017, Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston, TX, url

Ludovic Ferrière, G R Osinski (2010) Shatter cones and associated shock-induced microdeformations in minerals; new investigations and implications for their formation, Abstracts of Papers Submitted to the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 41, p. Abstract 1392, Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston, TX, url

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E Buchner, M Schmieder, W H Schwarz, M Trieloff, J Hopp (2012) An Early/Middle Devonian 40Ar/39Ar Age for the Charlevoix Impact Structure (Quebec, Canada)-An Approach Closer to Reality, Meteoritics & Planetary Science 47, p. A85-A85

M Schmieder, B J Shaulis, T J Lapen, E Buchner, D A Kring (2019) In situ U–Pb analysis of shocked zircon from the Charlevoix impact structure, Québec, Canada, Meteoritics & Planetary Science 54(8), p. 1808-1827, University of Arkansas, doi:10.1111/maps.13315