Gweni-Fada crater

Gweni-Fada is a meteorite crater in Chad, Africa.[1][2]

Gweni-Fada crater
Landsat image of the Gweni-Fada crater; screen capture from NASA World Wind
Impact crater/structure
ConfidenceConfirmed
Diameter14 km (8.7 mi)
Age<345 Ma
<Early Carboniferous
ExposedYes
DrilledNo
Location
LocationSahara
Coordinates17°25′7″N 21°45′8″E
CountryChad
StateEnnedi-Ouest
Location of the crater in Chad
Gweni-Fada crater viewed from the International Space Station
Oblique Landsat image of Gweni-Fada crater draped over digital elevation model (x2 vertical exaggeration); screen capture from NASA World Wind

The Gweni Fada structure was first noted on the map NE 34 X Fada of the IGN (National Geographic Institute France) and aerial photographs in the 1950s of IGN by Alain Beauvilain (Paris X- Nanterre University). In April 1995, at the initiative of CNAR (National Center to Help Research of Chad) a team of French geologists (Pierre Vincent, University of Clermont-Ferrand, Alain and Najia Beauvilain, CNAR Chad) visited the site and reported evidence of shock metamorphism within rock samples they had collected inside the structure.

It is 14 km in diameter and the age is estimated to be less than 345 million years (Carboniferous). It is older than that of Aorounga because its coverage of impactite has disappeared as a result of erosion.

See also

References
  1. "Gweni-Fada". Earth Impact Database. Planetary and Space Science Centre University of New Brunswick Fredericton. Retrieved 2009-08-13.
  2. VINCENT P.M., BEAUVILAIN A., 1996. Découverte d'un nouveau cratère d'impact météoritique en Afrique : l'astroblème de Gweni-Fada (Ennedi, Sahara du Tchad). C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, t. 323, série II a, pp. 987-997.

Further reading
  • Koeberl, C., Reimold, W. U. , Cooper, G. , Cowan, D. and Vincent, P. M., Aorounga and Gweni Fada impact structures, Chad: Remote sensing, petrography, and geochemistry of target rocks, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 40, No 9/10 P. 1455 - 1471. 2005
  • Koeberl, C., Reimold, W.U., Vincent, P. M., Brandt, D., Aorounga and Gweni Fada Impact Structures, Chad, Central Afr.: Petrology and Geochemistry of Target Rocks, LPSC XXIX, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX, (CD-ROM). 1998
  • Vincent P.M., Beauvilain, A., Découverte d'un nouveau cratère d'impact météoritique en Afrique: l'astroblème de Gweni-Fada (Ennedi, Sahara du Tchad) (in French). Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, v. 323, pp. 987–997. 1996
  • Vincent P.M., Beauvilain, A., The circular structure of Gweni-Fada, Ennedi: A second meteorite impact crater in Northern Chad? (abstract). 4th International Workshop of the ESF Scientific Network on "Impact Cratering and Evolution of Planet Earth". The Role of Impacts on the Evolution of the Atmosphere and Biosphere with Regard to Short- and Long-Term Changes, pp. 156–157. 1995
  • Vincent, P. M., The circular structure of Gweni-Fada, Ennedi: A second meteorite impact crater in Northern Chad? (abstract). 4th International Workshop of the ESF Scientific Network on "Impact Cratering and Evolution of Planet Earth". The Role of Impacts on the Evolution of the Atmosphere and Biosphere with regard to Short- and Long-Term Changes, p. 156-157. 1995
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