Secondary cratering on Earth: The Wyoming impact crater field

Abstract

Abstract A large number of small impact structures have been discovered in Wyoming, USA, and we raise the question of how this accumulation occurred. We document 31 crater structures of 10–70 m diameter with corresponding shock features but missing meteorite relics. All craters occur along the outcrops of the uppermost Permo-Pennsylvanian Casper Sandstone Formation and are ~280 m.y. old. Their spatial arrangement shows clusters and ray-like alignments. Several craters have elliptical crater morphologies that allow the reconstruction of impact trajectories. The radial arrangement of the trajectories indicates that the craters are secondary craters formed by ejecta from a primary crater whose likely position and size are reconstructed. Modeling ballistic trajectories and secondary crater formation indicates that impacts occurred at around 700–1000 m/s and caused small shock volumes with respect to crater volumes. This is the first field of secondary craters found on Earth, and we disentangle its formation conditions.