Marquez crater is a meteorite crater located in Leon County, Texas near the small town of Marquez about 177 km (110 mi) northeast of Austin, Texas, United States.[1]

Marquez crater
Cretaceous rocks at center of Marquez dome
Impact crater/structure
Diameter12.7 km (8 mi)
Age58 ± 2 million years
ExposedNo
DrilledYes
Location
LocationMarquez, Texas, United States
Coordinates31°17′N 96°18′W / 31.283°N 96.300°W / 31.283; -96.300
CountryUnited States
RegionUS-TX
StateTexas
DistrictLeon County, TX
Marquez crater is located in Texas
Marquez crater
Marquez crater
Location of Marquez crater in Texas
Access State Highway 7

It is 12.7 km (8 mi) in diameter and the age is estimated to be 58 ± 2 million years (Paleocene). The crater is not exposed at the surface, but some surface formations including the Marquez Dome are thought to be exposed portions of the rebound peak.[2] This includes a circular region of disturbed Cretaceous sedimentary rocks roughly 1.2 km (0.75 mi) in diameter at the surface. This may be associated with a central peak rising at least 1,120 m (3,670 ft) above the base of the buried crater.[3] The uplift was initially thought to indicate an underlying salt dome by early investigators, but this origin was ruled out by reflection seismology and the discovery of features like shatter cones strongly associated with meteoric origin.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Marquez". Earth Impact Database. Planetary and Space Science Centre University of New Brunswick Fredericton. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  2. ^ Sharpton, V. L. & Gibson, J. W., Jr. The Marquez Dome Impact Structure, Leon County, Texas. Abstracts of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, volume 21, page 1136, (1990)
  3. ^ Wong, Alan M.; Reid, Arch M.; Hall, Stuart A.; Sharpton, Virgil L. (November 2001). "Reconstruction Of The Subsurface Structure Of The Marquez Impact Crater In Leon County, Texas, Usa, Based On Well-Log And Gravity Data". Meteoritics & Planetary Science. 36 (11): 1443–1455. Bibcode:2001M&PS...36.1443W. doi:10.1111/j.1945-5100.2001.tb01837.x.
  4. ^ Flamini, Enrico; Coletta, Alessandro; Battagliere, Maria Libera; Virelli, Maria (2019). Flamini, Enrico; Di Martino, Mario; Coletta, Alessandro (eds.). Encyclopedic atlas of terrestrial impact craters (1st ed.). Springer. pp. 553–555. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-05451-9_154. ISBN 978-3-030-05451-9. S2CID 239079916.