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Iron-nickel metallic components bearing silicate-melts and coesite from Ramgarh impact structure, west-central India: Possible identification of the impactor

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Abstract

The Ramgarh structure (rim-to-rim diameter ~2.4 km) in the Vindhyan Supergroup of sedimentary rocks (including sandstone, shale and minor limestone) of the Mesoproterozoic age in the west-central India, is India’s third confirmed asteroid impact crater. This eroded structure is roughly rectangular in shape and resembles to the Barringer Crater, USA. The presence of central peak and its current crater diameter/depth ratio of ~12 well corroborate the range (10–20) of terrestrial complex asteroid impact craters. The mm-sized, iron-rich (FeO ~50 wt.% in average), spherule-like particles, recovered from the alluvium inside the Ramgarh structure, have internal morphology similar to those of the accretionary lapilli described in known impact craters. The in-situ LA-ICP-MS analyses also suggested high Co–Ni (up to 13,000 and 2500 ppm, respectively)-rich areas locally within these spherules/lapilli. A few non-in-situ, mm-sized particles, recovered from the rim of the structure show the presence of coesite, one of the diagnostic indicators of shock metamorphism. A few fragments of iron-rich, Ca–Al–silicate glasses recovered from the soil inside the structure and outside of the western crater rim include the presence of dendritic magnetite with occasional inclusions of relict native iron. Our microprobe analyses confirm that these metallic irons contain high proportions of Co (~350–3000 ppm), Ni (~200–4000 ppm) and Cu (~2200–7000 ppm) and possibly could be the relict component of a Cu-rich iron meteorite impactor. The field observation and relative enrichment of compatible and incompatible trace elements in the spherule-like substance (recovered from the alluvium inside the Ramgarh structure) as compared to target rocks suggests that hydrothermal activity played an important role in the evolution of the crater.

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Acknowledgements

DR is indebted to Department of Space (Govt. of India) for financial support. SM is grateful to PLANEX-PRL, India and NRF, South Africa (grant no. 91089); and H Newsom to NASA (P. G. and G. grant #NNG 05GJ42G), for financial assistance for this research work. Infrastructural facility for microphotography for this work provided by NCAOR, Goa, India, is thankfully acknowledged. We wish to extend our special thanks to D Panda (PRL, India) for helping in some microprobe analyses and SG Greenwood (UKZN, South Africa) for maintaining computers. The LA-ICP-MS trace element data were generated at the Diamond Jubilee Radiogenic Isotope Facility of the Department of Geology and Geophysics, IIT, Kharagpur. DU acknowledges financial support from IIT, Kharagpur for setting up the laboratory. SM is also grateful to M S Sisodia and G Lashkari, for introducing him in Ramgarh research. Critical review by an anonymous reviewer and editorial handling of N V Chalapathi Rao, Editor-in-Chief, are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Planetary Sciences Division, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, 380 009, India

    Dwijesh Ray

  2. Discipline of Geological Sciences, SAEES, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4000, South Africa

    Saumitra Misra

  3. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, 721 302, India

    Dewashish Upadhyay

  4. Institute of Meteoritics and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA

    Horton E Newsom & Eric J Peterson

  5. 8A-264, Salt Lake, Kolkata, 700 091, India

    Anand Dube

  6. CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, 500 007, India

    Manavalan Satyanaryanan

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Communicated by N V Chalapathi Rao

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Ray, D., Misra, S., Upadhyay, D. et al. Iron-nickel metallic components bearing silicate-melts and coesite from Ramgarh impact structure, west-central India: Possible identification of the impactor. J Earth Syst Sci 129, 118 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-020-1371-7

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