1. Reconstructing the dimension of Dhala Impact Crater, Central India, through integrated geographic information system and geological records.
- Author
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Keerthy, S., Vishnu, C.L., Li, Shan-Shan, Reshma, N., Praveen, M.N., Oommen, T., Singh, S.P., and Sajinkumar, K.S.
- Subjects
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GEOGRAPHIC information systems , *IMPACT craters , *LUNAR craters , *GEOLOGY - Abstract
Dhala Crater, located in the Bundelkhand Craton of Central India, has been contemplated as a complex crater. Here we present the results from a detailed investigation of the morphology of the crater by integrating geoinformatics and subsurface geology. The syn- and post-impact litho-contact, considered as crater boundary, was generated using visual interpretation of imagery whereas the morphology of the crater was generated from borehole data using spatial interpolation. The surface of contact between the Dhala Formation and the melt breccia show a bowl shaped depression that is inferred to have formed through impact. Our observations on the absence of a Central Elevated Area (CEA) and the small diameter (2.96 km) of the crater point towards a simple impact crater. A mesa-like structure located at the centre of the crater, formerly contended as the CEA, is in fact a vestige of denudational processes acting on the Proterozoic sediments in the crater. We propose a 4-stage evolutionary history that envisages the formation of the crater: the first three represent the impact event and sedimentation whereas the fourth stage correlates with denudation and its remnants seen throughout the exposed Vindhyan sediments. Image 1 • Dhala Crater was formerly contended as a complex crater with a central elevated area (CEA). • Our study proposes Dhala as a simple crater based on subsurface geology and geoinformatics. • Our study proves that Dhala structure is a simple impact crater. • The central uplifted area imparts a pseudo-CEA and is vestiges of denudation. • A 3D model was created using back-analysis to reconstruct the crater evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
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