some sort of underground volcanic intrusion. There is still quite a bit of ground water in the region around Barringer Crater. In 2010 when a reading was last taken, the water level was 185 meters below the surface partway up the ejecta blanket, and about 150 meters below the surface a bit further away from the crater (Arizona Groundwater Site Inventory, 2018). Note that from underground nuclear tests, this explosion depth is consistent with the formation of craters like the Barringer Crater. In addition, there is a nearby volcanic range that appears to have emerged from a fissure whose end points straight at Barringer Crater. This fissure, or another similar one, may well continue underground in the direction of the crater and, if so, it may be the source of volcanic heat needed to flash the ground water to steam, thereby forming a maar crater. Indeed, the squarish sides of the crater have been attributed to the pre-existence of faults or cracks in the rock (King, 2017). One of the evidences that has been used to argue for Barringer being an impact crater is the finding of many large and small pieces of iron that have been found all around the crater that appear to be pieces of the impacting meteorite. However, there is some evidence that there are bands of magnetite (iron) hundreds of feet underground in this area that were merely excavated, transformed by the heat and pressure, and then hurled by a steam explosion. One line of evidence in favor of this view is that a borehole drilled on the south rim into undisturbed terrestrial rock found a nearly 10-m thick layer of what was interpreted to be meteorite debris approximately 240 meters below the floor of the crater. However, since this borehole began on the rim into undisturbed terrestrial rock, a hole drilled straight down should not encounter any meteorite debris at that depth. Such debris would need to travel a few hundred meters through essentially solid rock. This rock may have partially fractured in place but would have approximately the same density as solid rock, as it lacks the voids associated with breccia that lower its overall density (King, 2017). So the best interpretation of this iron layer is that it formed with the rest of the rock in the area and is not related to the formation of the crater. Shoemaker was aware of this mystery but apparently did not consider the possibility that this “meteorite” layer may have been terrestrial in origin, perhaps emplaced during the Flood by supercritical water or another means (Simon et. al., 2004). And if that iron layer was already in the ground, then the “meteorite” chunks found on the desert floor may just be terrestrial magnetite that was transformed due to the intense heat and pressure of a steam explosion. The ‘meteorite’ iron mineral “Widmanstätten pattern” can be formed at temperatures as low as 450C, and it has been observed in non-meteorite iron alloys such as carbon steel. One way to test this hypothesis is to drill additional holes progressively further from the crater and see Figure 12. Barringer Craters and Nearby Volcanic Features STERNBERG Craters and cracks 2023 ICC 20
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