[meteorite-list] Crater Dig May Unlock the Past (Chesapeake Bay Crater)

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Oct 10 01:01:33 2005
Message-ID: <200510100500.j9A50H427956_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/DN-craterdog_09nat.ART.State.Bulldog.420764a.html

Crater dig may unlock the past

Scientists flock to Virginia coast to study 35 million-year-old site
Associated Press
October 9, 2005

CAPE CHARLES, Va. - More than a dozen countries are taking part in a
drilling project at the site of a 35-million-year-old impact crater on
Virginia's Eastern Shore.

A drilling rig arrived last month and set up on a farm near Cape Charles
that was settled by Englishmen in the early 1600s.

>From samples of rock and sediment that are collected, scientists hope to
learn about the prehistoric climate, the effects of an asteroid or comet
collision, how life survives after natural disasters and why groundwater
in the Hampton Roads area is salty, among other things.

"None of us will probably ever drill a 7,000-foot hole again," said Greg
Gohn of the U.S. Geological Survey, one of four principal investigators
for the project.

The crater is about 56 miles wide and at least a mile deep. Core samples
already have been taken from other drilling locations, but the latest
site near Cape Charles is by far the deepest.

"We'll be crossing bridges that nobody's crossed," said Geological
Survey scientist David Powars.

In 1994, Mr. Powars and other scientists announced the crater's
existence. They had been trying to figure out why some aquifers were
salty and why older fossils could be found lying on top of younger ones.

The $1.3 million project is being funded by the Geological Survey and
the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program - a consortium
of science agencies in 13 countries, including China, Canada, Germany
and South Africa.

The Chesapeake Bay impact crater was created by an object from outer
space. Because it is buried under layers and layers of sediment, it is
one of the best-preserved craters in the world.

British scientist Charles Cockell will lead the search for microbes that
could have survived the impact. If any are uncovered, he will try to
grow some in a lab, and Penn State microbiologist Jennifer Macalady will
examine their DNA.

Science teams plan to look into how the crater formed and its physical
properties. The potential immediate effects of the big impact also will
be explored - including tsunamis, wildfires across the East Coast and
melted sand that formed glass beads carried thousands of miles on the wind.

Modelers will project what could happen in the event of another space
rock collision. In the newer sediment layers at the crater site,
geologists hope to find information on historic climate changes that
affected sea levels and ice sheets.
Received on Mon 10 Oct 2005 01:00:15 AM PDT