Collaborative Research: Post-Impact Studies of the Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure: Implications for Continental Margin Evolution and Groundwater Resources

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0506720MillerThis project involves the analysis of material from the USGS/ICDP drilling project in the Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure (CBIS). ICDP and the USGS have provided funds to drill a 2.2 km borehole in the central basin of the CBIS at Cape Charles, VA for the purposes of: 1) impact studies, to constrain the crater structure and morphology, crater depth, the structural character of the central crater, and the stratigraphy, petrophysics, chemistry, and mineralogy of crater materials; 2) post-impact studies of the upper Eocene to Recent section (~36 - 0 My); and 3) hydrogeology and deep biosphere studies. Specifically, these funds will support the PI's efforts to participate in field analyses, post drilling analyses, and archiving of the post-impact section at Cape Charles in conjunction with collaborators at the New Jersey Geological Survey (NJGS), the Delaware Geological Survey (DGS), the USGS and international institutions. The scientific goals of the post-impact studies include: 1) documentation of the impact-produced local biotic crisis and recovery at ca. 35.7 Ma and the physical effects from a high-energy impact; 2) evaluation of the effects of cratering, other tectonic, sea-level, climate and sediment supply changes on the long-term evolution of the mid-Atlantic continental margin. The PI's team will focus particularly on comparing the post-impact section from the Cape Charles central basin corehole with coreholes drilled in the annular trough and outside the crater, especially well-dated upper Eocene through Miocene sections in New Jersey and Delaware.