Oasis crater
Oasis crater | |
---|---|
Impact crater/structure | |
Confidence | Confirmed |
Diameter | 18 kilometres (11 mi) |
Age | <120 Ma |
Exposed | Yes |
Drilled | No |
Location | |
Country | Libya |
Oasis is a meteorite crater in Libya. The crater is exposed at the surface, and has been significantly eroded. The prominent topographic ring is only the central uplift, which is about 5.2 kilometres (3.2 mi) in diameter, while the original crater rim is estimated to have been 18 kilometres (11 mi) in diameter. The age is estimated to be less than 120 million years (Lower Cretaceous).[1]
The Oasis crater was photographed from space during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, and was recognized as a "possible astrobleme" at the time.[2] The crater had been recognized prior to this in 1969 by A. J. Martin.[3] French et al. state that Oasis crater and the smaller BP Structure, about 88 km (55 mi) to the north, were probably simultaneous impacts.[4] Both impacts deform the Nubian Sandstone of early Cretaceous age.
About 355 km (221 mi) to the southeast in Egypt is the much younger Kamil Crater.
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Part of AST image AST-16-1244 showing the crater at center (1975)
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Oblique Landsat image of Oasis crater draped over digital elevation model (x5 vertical exaggeration); screen capture from NASA World Wind
References
[edit]- ^ "Oasis". Earth Impact Database. Planetary and Space Science Centre University of New Brunswick Fredericton. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Preliminary Science Report. NASA TM X- 58173. Feb. 1976.
- ^ Martin, A. Possible Impact Structure in Southern Cyrenaica, Libya. Nature 223, 940–941 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1038/223940a0
- ^ BEVAN M. FRENCH, JAMES R. UNDERWOOD, EDWARD P. FISK; Shock-Metamorphic Features in Two Meteorite Impact Structures, Southeastern Libya. GSA Bulletin 1974;; 85 (9): 1425–1428. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1974)85<1425:SFITMI>2.0.CO;2
External links
[edit]- Anonymous (nd) Africa (Impact Craters), Earth Impact Database, Planetary and Space Science Centre Archived 2010-02-12 at the Wayback Machine, University of New Brunswick, New Brunswick, Canada.
- Stephan van Gasselt; Jung Rack Kim; Yun-Soo Choi; Jaemyeong Kim (2017). "The Oasis impact structure, Libya: geological characteristics from ALOS PALSAR-2 data interpretation". Earth, Planets and Space. 69 (35). Bibcode:2017EP&S...69...35V. doi:10.1186/s40623-017-0620-8.
24°34′28″N 24°24′37″E / 24.57444°N 24.41028°E