Kamil - Hypervelocity Impact Crater
| Alternate Names | |
| Local Language | |
| Coordinates |
22° 1' 6" N; 26° 5' 16" E Notes
|
| Country | Egypt |
| Region | New Valley |
| Date Confirmed | 2010 Notes
|
| Buried? |
No Notes
|
| Drilled? | No |
| Target Type |
Sedimentary Notes
|
| Sub-Type | Sandstone |
| Apparent Crater Diameter (km) | Unknown |
| Age (Ma) | ≤0.004 Notes :
Method :
|
| Impactor Type |
Iron, ungrouped
Notes
|
Advanced Data Fields
Notes
- Has rayed ejecta that extends radially from crater for ~50 m to N, E, and S with longest rays up to 350 m (Folco et al., 2010).
- (Folco et al., 2010)
- Bowl-shaped crater with ~3 m rim raised above the preimpact surface (Folco et al., 2010).
- Meteorites are classified as an ungrouped Ni-rich ataxite. Over 5000 shrapnel fragments recovered totaling ~1.71 t and one regmaglypted individual weighing 83 kg (Folco et al., 2011). Meteorites recovered and are called Gebel Kamil meteorites.
- We found three high-pressure phases in sample L23: coesite, stishovite, and diamond (Fazio et al., 2014). See Table 1, for shock features in rock samples (Fazio et al., 2014). See Table 7 for summary of shock features (Fazio et al., 2014). Diamond identified by micro-Raman (Fazio et al., 2014). Diamonds are up to 1 µm in size and are commonly associated with diaplectic glass/SiO2 melt (Fazio et al., 2014). Shock twinned zircon in sample L23 reported by Cavosie and Folco (2021)"
- Too small? (Fazio et al., 2014) report on "ejected sandstone showing a shatter cone surface" and "striated surfaces of the cones are coated by thin films (<200 lm in thickness) of glass", etc. **see Fig. 3d and Fig. 15 for shatter cone photo, sample: R01 (Fazio et al., 2014). [To be confirmed!]
- The observed shock deformation textures in quartz vary from planar fractures to strong mosaicism (D'orazio et al., 2011). Planar fractures observed in rock samples (Table 1, 7; Fazio et al., 2014). Pervasive planar fractures (PF) spaced 15-20 µm apart (Folco and D'Orazio, 2011).
- Quartz crystal showing three sets of planar features (possibly planar deformation features; transmitted PPL) (Fig. 12) (D'Orazio et al., 2011). (PDFs) in quartz grains occur in sample L23 and in several sandstone clasts embedded in the dark impact melt glasses (Fazio et al., 2014). See Fig. 9 for BSE images of PDFs in sandstone ejecta sample, quartz, tourmaline (Fazio et al., 2014). See Table 1 and Table 2, for PDFs in rock samples (Fazio et al., 2014). Fig. 10a,b. Histograms showing results of PDF indexing for quartz in quartzarenite (Fazio et al., 2014). Table 5. PDF orientations in quartz of sample L23 and from the sandstone clasts embedded in dark impact melt lapilli and bombs. (Fazio et al., 2014). {1013}, {1012}, {1122} PDF orientations in quartz grains (Fig. 1) (Folco and D'Orazio, 2011). Detailed view (PPL) of a quartz grain from sample L23 showing two sets of planar deformation features (Fig. 7E; Urbini et al., 2012).
- Table 2: Multiple rock samples with diaplectic glass (Fazio et al., 2014). Dark glass lapilli and bombs contain fragments up to 1 mm in size of diaplectic glass (Fazio et al., 2014). Fig. 13. Raman spectra for diamond and for diamond + diaplectic glass/SiO2 melt (Fazio et al., 2014). Diaplectic glass mentioned in Table 7: summary of shock features (Fazio et al., 2014).
- Fig. 11. X-ray powder diffraction pattern, X-ray peak from coesite Fazio et al., 2014). Coesite was confirmed both as single phase and associated with diaplectic glass/SiO2 melt by Raman microspectroscopy (Fig. 12a) (Fazio et al., 2014). Average size of these coesite-bearing domains is 400 µm in diameter (Fazio et al., 2014).
- Stishovite was identified only by XRPD (Fazio et al., 2014). Fig. 11. X-ray powder diffraction pattern, X-ray peak from stishovite (Fazio et al., 2014).
- Pumiceous, siliceous glass occurs within and close to the crater in the ejecta blanket. Microscopic Fe-Ni oxide spherules found within the ejecta blanket (D'Orazio et al., 2011) (Folco et al., 2011).
References
(2010) The Kamil crater in Egypt, Science 329(5993), p. 804, url, doi:10.1126/science.1190990
(2011) Kamil Crater (Egypt): Ground truth for small-scale meteorite impacts on Earth, Geology (Boulder) 39(2), p. 179-182, Geological Society of America (GSA), Boulder, CO, url, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G31624.1
(2011) Gebel Kamil: The iron meteorite that formed the Kamil Crater (Egypt), Meteoritics & Planetary Science 46(8), p. 1179-1196, Meteoritical Society, Fayetteville, AR, url, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2011.01222.x
(2012) Geological and geophysical investigation of Kamil Crater, Egypt, Meteoritics & Planetary Science 47(11), p. 1842-1868, Meteoritical Society, Fayetteville, AR, url, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/maps.12023
(2014) Cosmic ray exposure and pre-atmospheric size of the Gebel Kamil iron meteorite, Meteoritics and Planetary Science 49(8), p. 1365-1374, University of Arkansas, doi:10.1111/maps.12334
(2014) Shock metamorphism and impact melting in small impact craters on Earth: Evidence from Kamil crater, Egypt, Meteoritics and Planetary Science 49(12), p. 2175-2200, University of Arkansa, doi:10.1111/maps.12385
(2015) Thermoluminescence dating of the Kamil impact crater (Egypt), Meteoritics and Planetary Science 50(2), p. 204-213, University of Arkansas, doi:10.1111/maps.12417
(2015) Microscopic impactor debris in the soil around Kamil crater (Egypt): Inventory, distribution, total mass, and implications for the impact scenario, Meteoritics and Planetary Science 50(3), p. 382-400, University of Arkansas, doi:10.1111/maps.12427
(2016) Target-projectile interaction during impact melting at Kamil Crater, Egypt, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 180, p. 33-50, Elsevier Ltd, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2016.02.003
(2018) Direct quartz-coesite transformation in shocked porous sandstone from Kamil Crater (Egypt), Geology 46(9), p. 739-742, Geological Society of America, doi:10.1130/G45116.1
(2018) Silicate liquid immiscibility in impact melts, Meteoritics and Planetary Science 53(8), p. 1594-1632, University of Arkansas, doi:10.1111/maps.12907
(2020) Impact Craters and Meteorites: The Egyptian Record., The Geology of Egypt. Regional Geology Reviews., Z. Hamimi, A. El-Barkooky, H. Fritz, Y. Abd El-Rahman (ed.), p. 415-444, Springer. Cham.
(2021) The formation of impact coesite, Scientific Reports 11(16011), Nature Research, doi:10.1038/s41598-021-95432-6
(2021) Shock-twinned zircon in ejecta from the 45-m-diameter Kamil crater in southern Egypt, Large meteorite impacts and planetary evolution VI 550, W. U. Reimold, C. Koeberl (ed.), Geological Society of America
(2022) Possible shock-induced crystallization of skeletal quartz from supercritical SiO2-H2O fluid: A case study of impact melt from Kamil impact crater, Egypt, Geology 50(3), p. 311-315, Geological Society of America, doi:10.1130/G49476.1
(2022) Microscopic impactor debris at Kamil Crater (Egypt): The origin of the Fe-Ni oxide spherules, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 335, p. 297-322, Elsevier Ltd, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2022.06.035