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Oceanic resurge deposits at the Rochechouart impact structure (France) suggest a marine target environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 February 2023

Jens Ormö Open the ORCID record for Jens Ormö [Opens in a new window] ,
Erik Sturkell ,
Philippe Lambert ,
Sylvie Bourquin Open the ORCID record for Sylvie Bourquin [Opens in a new window]  and
Jean-Baptiste Cherfils
Jens Ormö*
Affiliation:
Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB), CSIC-INTA, Carretera de Ajalvir km 4, 28850 Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain
Erik Sturkell
Affiliation:
Earth Sciences Centre, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden
Philippe Lambert
Affiliation:
Centre for International Research on Impacts and on Rochechouart (CIRIR), 2 Faubourg du Puy du Moulin, Rochechouart 87600, France
Sylvie Bourquin
Affiliation:
University of Rennes, CNRS, Géosciences Rennes – UMR 6118, F-35000, Rennes, France
Jean-Baptiste Cherfils
Affiliation:
University of Rennes, CNRS, Géosciences Rennes – UMR 6118, F-35000, Rennes, France
*
Author for correspondence: Jens Ormö, Email: ormoj@cab.inta-csic.es
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Abstract

The Rochechouart impact structure, located in the western part of the Massif Central in France, has been suggested to be one of the largest impact structures in western Europe. Various age datings have placed the event in a span from the Late Triassic to the Early Jurassic, but the most recent works favour a Late Triassic age. Very little is known about the target environment at the time and location of the impact event. Seemingly coeval, potential tsunamites along palaeoshorelines of the sea that covered parts of continental Europe at the time have been suggested to be related to the impact event and may indicate a marine target setting. Here we apply the method of visual line-logging of the graded suevite in the Chassenon SC2 drill core. This method has previously been used to investigate the depositional environment of similar deposits in several marine target impact craters. It allowed us to compare the deposits at these craters with those at Rochechouart, and in this way not only confirm the marine target setting, but also estimate the target water depth to be ∼200 m. Altogether, our results indicate a palaeogeographic target setting in a newly opened seaway connecting the Paris Basin with the Aquitaine Basin, which may indicate an age of impact at the younger end of the hitherto suggested age-span, i.e. in the late Rhaetian – Early Jurassic.

Keywords

impact craterpalaeogeographyresurge depositssedimentologystratigraphy
Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 160 , Issue 4 , April 2023 , pp. 794 - 802
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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