shelves (Melosh, 2003). This could be caused by wave
breaking or bottom friction, reducing the amplitude of the
shoreline run up, maybe to 30 % of the deepwater wave
amplitude (Korycansky and Lynett, 2005).
Shuvalov (2002) carried out numerical modeling of tsunami formation, demonstrating, e.g., that the Mjølnir
impact was responsible for a major disturbance of the
water column. Following the impact-induced outward
water surge, large amplitude tsunamis were formed, and
the rapid resurge of seawater into the excavated crater
transported large amounts of ejecta and crater wall material back into the crater. Glimsdal et al. (2010) modeled
more specifically the tsunami generation and propagation
from the Mjølnir event (Dypvik et al., 2010). Tsunamis
started to develop as an undulatory bore, developing into
a train of solitary waves. Waves with amplitudes exceeding 200 m were formed, but during shoaling, the waves
broke rather far from the coastlines in relatively deep
water. The tsunamis, however, induced strong bottom currents in the 30–90 km/h range, which caused strong
reworking of bottom sediments with dramatic consequences for the marine environments.
Acknowledgments
L. Thompson kindly helped with the impact crater
statistics
(http://www.passc.net/EarthImpactDatabase/),
while P. Claeys, V. Shuvalov, and A. J. Read commented
on an earlier draft of the manuscript.
Bibliography
Artemieva, N., and Shuvalov, V., 2002. Shock metamorphism on
the ocean floor (numerical simulations). Deep-Sea Research II,
49, 959–968.
Clayes, P., Kiessling, W., and Alvarez, W., 2002. Distribution of
Chicxulub ejecta at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. In
Koeberl, C., and MacLeod, K. G. (eds.), Catastrophic Events
and Mass Extinctions: Impacts and Beyond. Boulder: Geological Society of America. Special Paper, Vol. 356, pp. 55–68.
Davison, T., and Collins, G. S., 2007. The effect of the oceans on the
terrestrial crater size-frequency distribution: insight from numerical modeling. Meteoritics and Planetary Science, 42,
1915–1927.
Dypvik, H., and Jansa, L., 2003. Sedimentary signatures and processes during marine bolide impacts: a review. Sedimentary
Geology, 161, 309–337.
Dypvik, H., and Kalleson, E., 2010. Mechanisms of late synimpact
to early postimpact crater sedimentation in marine-impact structures. In Reimold, W. U., and Gibson, R. L. (eds.), Large Meteorite Impacts and Planetary Evolution IV. Boulder: Geological
Society of America. Special Paper, Vol. 465, pp. 301–318.
Dypvik, H., Tsikalas, F., and Smelror, M., 2010. The Mjølnir Impact
Event and Its Consequences. Heidelberg/Dordrecht/London/
New York: Springer. The Springer Series Impact Studies. 318
pp.
French, B. M., 1998. Traces of Catastrophe. LPI Contribution,
Lunar Planetary Institute, Houston, TX, 954, 120 pp.
French, B. M., and Koeberl, C., 2010. The convincing identification
of terrestrial meteorite impact structures: what works, what
doesn’t and why. Earth-Science Reviews, 98, 123–170.
Gault, D. E., and Sonett, C. P., 1982. Laboratory simulations of
pelagic asteroidal impact: atmospheric injection, benthic topography, and the surface wave radiation field. In Silver, L. T., and
Schultz, P. H. (eds.), Geological Implications of Impacts of
Large Asteroids and Comets on the Earth. Boulder: Geological
Society of America. Special Paper, Vol. 190, pp. 69–92.
Gersonde, R., Kyte, F. T., Bleil, U., Diekman, B., Flores, J. A.,
Gohl, K., Grahl, G., Hagen, R., Kuhn, G., Sierro, F. J., Volker,
D., Abelmann, A., and Bostwik, J. A., 1997. Geological record
and reconstruction of the Late Pliocene impact of the Eltanin
asteroid in the Southern Ocean. Nature, 390, 357–363.
Gersonde, R., Deutsch, A., Ivanov, B. A., and Kyte, F. T., 2002.
Oceanic impacts – a growing field of fundamental science.
Deep-Sea Research II, 49, 951–957.
Gilbert, G. K., 1893. The Moon’s Face. A Study of the Origin of Its
Features. Washington, DC: Bulletin of Philosophical Society,
Vol. 12, pp. 241–292.
Gisler, G., Weaver, R., and Gittings, M., 2010. Calculation of asteroid impacts into deep and shallow water. Pure and Applied Geophysics, 168, 1187–1198.
Glimsdal, S., Pedersen, G. K., Langtangen, H. P., Shuvalov, V.,
and Dypvik, H., 2010. The Mjølnir tsunami. In Dypvik, H.,
Tsikalas, F., and Smelror, M. (eds.), The Mjølnir Impact Events
and Its Consequences. Heidelberg/Dordrecht/London/New
York: Springer, Vol. The Springer Series Impact Studies,
pp. 257–271.
Gohn, G. S., Koeberl, C., Miller, K. G., and Reimold, W. U., 2009.
The ICDP-USGS Deep Drilling Project in the Chesapeake Bay
Impact Structure: Results From the Eyreville Core Holes. Boulder: The Geological Society of America. Special Paper, Vol. 458.
Gulick, S. P., et al., 2008. Importance of pre-impact crustal structure
for the asymmetry of the Chicxulub impact crater. Nature Geoscience, 1, 131–135.
Jansa, L., 1993. Cometary impacts into ocean: their recognition and
the threshold constraint for biological extinctions.
Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 104,
271–286.
Korycansky, D. G., and Lynett, P. J., 2005. Offshore breaking of
impact tsunami: the Van Dorn effect revisited. Geophysical
Research Letters, 32, L10608.
Korycansky, D. G., and Lynett, P. J., 2007. Run-up from impact tsunami. Geophysical Journal International, 170, 1076–1088.
Kring, D., 2003. Environmental consequences of impact cratering
events as a function of ambient conditions on Earth. Astrobiology, 3, 133–152.
Kyte, F. T., 1988. The extraterrestrial component in marine sediments: description and interpretation. Paleoceanography, 3,
235–247.
Kyte, F. T., Zhou, L., and Wasson, J. T., 1988. New evidence on the
size and possible effects of a late Pliocene oceanic asteroid
impact. Science, 241, 63–65.
Masaitis, V. L., 2002. The middle Devonian Kaluga impact crater
(Russia): new interpretation of marine setting. Deep-Sea
Research II, 49, 1157–1169.
Matsui, T., Imamura, F., Tajika, E., Nakano, Y., and Fujisawa, Y.,
2002. Generation and propagation of a tsunami from the
Cretaceous-Tertiary impact event. In Koeberl, C., and Macleod,
K. G. (eds.), Catastrophic Events and Mass Extinctions: Impacts
and Beyond. Boulder: Geological Society of America. Special
Paper, Vol. 356, pp. 69–77.
Melosh, H. J., 1982. The Mechanics of Large Meteoroid Impacts in
the Earth’s Oceans. Boulder: Geological Society of America.
Special Paper, Vol. 190, pp. 121–127.
Melosh, H. J., 1989. Impact Cratering: A Geologic Process. New
York: Oxford University Press, p. 245.
Melosh, H. J., 2003. Impact-generated tsunamis: An overrated hazard. In: 34 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, League
City, TX, # 2013.
Morrow, J. R., Sandberg, C. A., Malkowski, K., and Joachmiski,
M. M., 2009. Carbon isotope chemostratigraphy and precise
466
MARINE IMPACTS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES
breaking or bottom friction, reducing the amplitude of the
shoreline run up, maybe to 30 % of the deepwater wave
amplitude (Korycansky and Lynett, 2005).
Shuvalov (2002) carried out numerical modeling of tsunami formation, demonstrating, e.g., that the Mjølnir
impact was responsible for a major disturbance of the
water column. Following the impact-induced outward
water surge, large amplitude tsunamis were formed, and
the rapid resurge of seawater into the excavated crater
transported large amounts of ejecta and crater wall material back into the crater. Glimsdal et al. (2010) modeled
more specifically the tsunami generation and propagation
from the Mjølnir event (Dypvik et al., 2010). Tsunamis
started to develop as an undulatory bore, developing into
a train of solitary waves. Waves with amplitudes exceeding 200 m were formed, but during shoaling, the waves
broke rather far from the coastlines in relatively deep
water. The tsunamis, however, induced strong bottom currents in the 30–90 km/h range, which caused strong
reworking of bottom sediments with dramatic consequences for the marine environments.
Acknowledgments
L. Thompson kindly helped with the impact crater
statistics
(http://www.passc.net/EarthImpactDatabase/),
while P. Claeys, V. Shuvalov, and A. J. Read commented
on an earlier draft of the manuscript.
Bibliography
Artemieva, N., and Shuvalov, V., 2002. Shock metamorphism on
the ocean floor (numerical simulations). Deep-Sea Research II,
49, 959–968.
Clayes, P., Kiessling, W., and Alvarez, W., 2002. Distribution of
Chicxulub ejecta at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. In
Koeberl, C., and MacLeod, K. G. (eds.), Catastrophic Events
and Mass Extinctions: Impacts and Beyond. Boulder: Geological Society of America. Special Paper, Vol. 356, pp. 55–68.
Davison, T., and Collins, G. S., 2007. The effect of the oceans on the
terrestrial crater size-frequency distribution: insight from numerical modeling. Meteoritics and Planetary Science, 42,
1915–1927.
Dypvik, H., and Jansa, L., 2003. Sedimentary signatures and processes during marine bolide impacts: a review. Sedimentary
Geology, 161, 309–337.
Dypvik, H., and Kalleson, E., 2010. Mechanisms of late synimpact
to early postimpact crater sedimentation in marine-impact structures. In Reimold, W. U., and Gibson, R. L. (eds.), Large Meteorite Impacts and Planetary Evolution IV. Boulder: Geological
Society of America. Special Paper, Vol. 465, pp. 301–318.
Dypvik, H., Tsikalas, F., and Smelror, M., 2010. The Mjølnir Impact
Event and Its Consequences. Heidelberg/Dordrecht/London/
New York: Springer. The Springer Series Impact Studies. 318
pp.
French, B. M., 1998. Traces of Catastrophe. LPI Contribution,
Lunar Planetary Institute, Houston, TX, 954, 120 pp.
French, B. M., and Koeberl, C., 2010. The convincing identification
of terrestrial meteorite impact structures: what works, what
doesn’t and why. Earth-Science Reviews, 98, 123–170.
Gault, D. E., and Sonett, C. P., 1982. Laboratory simulations of
pelagic asteroidal impact: atmospheric injection, benthic topography, and the surface wave radiation field. In Silver, L. T., and
Schultz, P. H. (eds.), Geological Implications of Impacts of
Large Asteroids and Comets on the Earth. Boulder: Geological
Society of America. Special Paper, Vol. 190, pp. 69–92.
Gersonde, R., Kyte, F. T., Bleil, U., Diekman, B., Flores, J. A.,
Gohl, K., Grahl, G., Hagen, R., Kuhn, G., Sierro, F. J., Volker,
D., Abelmann, A., and Bostwik, J. A., 1997. Geological record
and reconstruction of the Late Pliocene impact of the Eltanin
asteroid in the Southern Ocean. Nature, 390, 357–363.
Gersonde, R., Deutsch, A., Ivanov, B. A., and Kyte, F. T., 2002.
Oceanic impacts – a growing field of fundamental science.
Deep-Sea Research II, 49, 951–957.
Gilbert, G. K., 1893. The Moon’s Face. A Study of the Origin of Its
Features. Washington, DC: Bulletin of Philosophical Society,
Vol. 12, pp. 241–292.
Gisler, G., Weaver, R., and Gittings, M., 2010. Calculation of asteroid impacts into deep and shallow water. Pure and Applied Geophysics, 168, 1187–1198.
Glimsdal, S., Pedersen, G. K., Langtangen, H. P., Shuvalov, V.,
and Dypvik, H., 2010. The Mjølnir tsunami. In Dypvik, H.,
Tsikalas, F., and Smelror, M. (eds.), The Mjølnir Impact Events
and Its Consequences. Heidelberg/Dordrecht/London/New
York: Springer, Vol. The Springer Series Impact Studies,
pp. 257–271.
Gohn, G. S., Koeberl, C., Miller, K. G., and Reimold, W. U., 2009.
The ICDP-USGS Deep Drilling Project in the Chesapeake Bay
Impact Structure: Results From the Eyreville Core Holes. Boulder: The Geological Society of America. Special Paper, Vol. 458.
Gulick, S. P., et al., 2008. Importance of pre-impact crustal structure
for the asymmetry of the Chicxulub impact crater. Nature Geoscience, 1, 131–135.
Jansa, L., 1993. Cometary impacts into ocean: their recognition and
the threshold constraint for biological extinctions.
Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 104,
271–286.
Korycansky, D. G., and Lynett, P. J., 2005. Offshore breaking of
impact tsunami: the Van Dorn effect revisited. Geophysical
Research Letters, 32, L10608.
Korycansky, D. G., and Lynett, P. J., 2007. Run-up from impact tsunami. Geophysical Journal International, 170, 1076–1088.
Kring, D., 2003. Environmental consequences of impact cratering
events as a function of ambient conditions on Earth. Astrobiology, 3, 133–152.
Kyte, F. T., 1988. The extraterrestrial component in marine sediments: description and interpretation. Paleoceanography, 3,
235–247.
Kyte, F. T., Zhou, L., and Wasson, J. T., 1988. New evidence on the
size and possible effects of a late Pliocene oceanic asteroid
impact. Science, 241, 63–65.
Masaitis, V. L., 2002. The middle Devonian Kaluga impact crater
(Russia): new interpretation of marine setting. Deep-Sea
Research II, 49, 1157–1169.
Matsui, T., Imamura, F., Tajika, E., Nakano, Y., and Fujisawa, Y.,
2002. Generation and propagation of a tsunami from the
Cretaceous-Tertiary impact event. In Koeberl, C., and Macleod,
K. G. (eds.), Catastrophic Events and Mass Extinctions: Impacts
and Beyond. Boulder: Geological Society of America. Special
Paper, Vol. 356, pp. 69–77.
Melosh, H. J., 1982. The Mechanics of Large Meteoroid Impacts in
the Earth’s Oceans. Boulder: Geological Society of America.
Special Paper, Vol. 190, pp. 121–127.
Melosh, H. J., 1989. Impact Cratering: A Geologic Process. New
York: Oxford University Press, p. 245.
Melosh, H. J., 2003. Impact-generated tsunamis: An overrated hazard. In: 34 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, League
City, TX, # 2013.
Morrow, J. R., Sandberg, C. A., Malkowski, K., and Joachmiski,
M. M., 2009. Carbon isotope chemostratigraphy and precise
466
MARINE IMPACTS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES