how far away from the crater this iron-rich layer persists – if it was a pre-existing deposit, then perhaps it extends a kilometer or more from the crater rim, whereas if it truly is from a meteor, then it should not extend nearly that far. Indeed, this terrestrial origin hypothesis for the source of the scattered iron was suggested by Fletcher in 1906 (Fletcher, 1906). There is other evidence, not often discussed, that there were possible signs of volcanism associated with this crater. For one, Barringer discovered pumice in some of his boreholes – in some cases it was so light that it floated on the ground water in the holes (Hoyt, 1987). While it is argued that pumice can form from impacts, it is so commonly associated with volcanism that this seems more like an ad hoc rescuing device than a serious argument. Perhaps that’s why Mallet, the geologist to whom Barringer sent the sample, said it has “the general character of siliceous sinter or geyserite from hot springs, and so seem to furnish some evidence of a kind, which I had supposed from your account to be entirely lacking, in support of Dr. Gilbert’s steam explosion theory”. Furthermore, one objection to the impact hypothesis was that there was never enough iron found to account for a meteorite large enough to create such a crater. A typical answer to this objection has been that most of the iron meteorite vaporized, and that’s why it isn’t found. However, if it vaporized, that would not eliminate the iron atoms, as the vapor must eventually condense, solidify, and fall to the surface of the ground in a fine powder of iron all around the crater and-or mixed in within the ejecta blanket, with enough volume to account for the entire size of the impactor. So this objection appears to still have merit. The evidence in favor of each hypothesis can be summarized as follows: (Table 1 – Barringer Crater Hypothesis Comparison) So the Berringer Crater is not unambiguously an impact crater, but instead it bears many similarities to steam explosion craters which are fairly common in the Southwest United States and northern Mexico, and it has no distinguishing features that could not also be explained if it is in fact a steam explosion crater. Furthermore, there are several features of the site that are more consistent with a steam explosion than with an impact. B. Lunar Crater Types That Require A Volcanic Origin What about lunar craters – what evidence is there that they were formed via volcanic processes as opposed to impacts? Now that we have discussed the evidence for heat from accelerated nuclear decay throughout the solar system, and have considered the historical debate of craters having their origin from impacts or internal explosions, we can adequately address this question. In addition to the massive volcanic eruptions that fill the “impact” basins on the near side of the Moon, as discussed above, quite a few smaller lunar craters have evidence of associated volcanism. In particular, the following three features show an association between many craters and volcanism, suggesting that, at the very least, craters with those characteristics were likely formed by explosive volcanic eruptions and not by impacts: 1) Irregular Mare Patches, 2) Lunar Rilles, and 3) Off-Center “Central” Peaks, some of which have summit pits. 1. Irregular Mare Patches Irregular Mare Patches are areas that appear to be recent lava deposits, and they are found in and around the maria. These patches generally are found in small craters and generally appear like lumps that are largely devoid of craters themselves. Figure 13 contains several examples. A paper in Nature Geoscience says, “The morphology of the features is also consistent with small basaltic eruptions that occurred significantly after the established cessation of the lunar mare basaltic volcanism” (Braden et. al., 2014). In the old-age uniformitarian paradigm, these basaltic eruptions, which they claim occurred roughly 100 million years ago (or over 3 billion years after the formation of the maria) are a mystery, since the Moon should have cooled and solidified long before that time. However in a Young-Earth paradigm, this fits the exponential decline of post-Flood volcanoes that we also see on Earth. Volcanic activity gradual tapered off as the remnant heat from the episode of accelerated radioactive decay near the surface of those worlds slowly dissipated over the last several thousand years (Austin, 1998). Furthermore, the association between irregular mare patches and the craters they are typically found within suggests a connection between the formation of those craters and their subsequent filling with lava. Figure 14 illustrates the abundance of these patches. If these craters containing recent lava flows were likely Barringer Crater Observation Impact Hypothesis A.N.D. Steam Explosion Hypothesis Crater size and shape X X Shock metamorphism X X Shatter Cones X X Planar Deformation Features X X Proximity to volcanoes X Relatively small quantity of iron X 10m thick iron rich rock layer outside crater X Pumice in bore holes X Groundwater at 185m depth X Table 1. Barringer crater evidence comparison STERNBERG Craters and cracks 2023 ICC 21
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