Tenoumer crater

Tenoumer is considered to be an impact crater in Mauritania.[1]

Landsat image of the Tenoumer crater; screen capture from NASA World Wind
Oblique Landsat image of Tenoumer crater draped over digital elevation model (x3 vertical exaggeration); screen capture from NASA World Wind
Tenoumer crater
Impact crater/structure
ConfidenceConfirmed
Diameter1.9 km (1.2 mi)
Depth
  • 110 m (360 ft) (currently exposed)
  • 300 to 400 m (980 to 1,310 ft) (originally)
Age21,400 ± 9,700
Location
Coordinates22°55′5″N 10°24′27″W
CountryMauritania
Tenoumer crater
Asteroid impact location in Africa

Details

The crater is located in the western Sahara Desert. It is 1.9 km (1.2 mi) in diameter and its age is estimated to be 1.57 ± 0.14 million years old.[2]

The crater is exposed at the surface and is nearly circular. Edges of the crater rise up to 110 m (360 ft) high above the base of the crater, but the bottom of the crater is covered with approximately 200 to 300 m (660 to 980 ft) thick layer of sediments.

Tenoumer crater has formed in gneiss and granite of Precambrian peneplain with a thin layer of Pliocene sediments (no older). The crater is believed to be caused by an impact event due to basement rocks found outside the crater. A volcanic origin was once theorized] because of the discovery of basalt and rhyodacite outside of the crater basin,[3] but current evidence clearly indicates an impact origin.[4]

References
  1. "Tenoumer". Earth Impact Database. Planetary and Space Science Centre University of New Brunswick Fredericton. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
  2. Schultze, Dina Simona; Jourdan, Fred; Hecht, Lutz; Reimold, Wolf Uwe; Ralf-Thomas, Schmitt (2016). "Tenoumer impact crater, Mauritania: Impact melt genesis from a lithologically diverse target" (PDF). Meteoritics and Planetary Science. The Meteoritical Society. 51 (2): 323–350. Bibcode:2016M&PS...51..323S. doi:10.1111/maps.12593.
  3. METEORITE OR VOLCANO?
  4. Brügge, Norbert. "The "impact" craters of Mauritania: Aouelloul, Tenoumer, Temimichat and El Mrayer". Archived from the original on 2010-02-23.
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