A large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier in northwest Greenland
We report the discovery of a large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier in northwest Greenland. From airborne radar surveys, we identify a 31-kilometer-wide, circular bedrock depression beneath up to a kilometer of ice. This depression has an elevated rim that cross-cuts tributary subglacial chann...
Published in: | Science Advances |
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2018
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Online Access: | https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/a-large-impact-crater-beneath-hiawatha-glacier-in-northwest-greenland(996577e5-b621-47e2-94d6-72a2752f44a0).html https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aar8173 https://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/210102979/A_large_impact_crater_beneath_Hiawatha_Glacier_in_northwest_Greenland.pdf |
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ftcopenhagenunip:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/996577e5-b621-47e2-94d6-72a2752f44a0 2023-05-15T16:21:07+02:00 A large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier in northwest Greenland Kjær, Kurt H. Larsen, Nicolaj Krog Binder, Tobias Bjørk, Anders Anker Eisen, Olaf Fahnestock, Mark Funder, Svend Visby Garde, Adam A. Haack, Henning Helm, Veit Houmark-Nielsen, Michael Kjeldsen, Kristian Kjellerup Khan, Shfaqat Machguth, Horst McDonald, Iain Morlighem, Mathieu Mouginot, Jéremie Paden, John D. Waight, Tod Earle Weikusat, Christian Willerslev, Eske MacGregor, Joseph 2018 application/pdf https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/a-large-impact-crater-beneath-hiawatha-glacier-in-northwest-greenland(996577e5-b621-47e2-94d6-72a2752f44a0).html https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aar8173 https://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/210102979/A_large_impact_crater_beneath_Hiawatha_Glacier_in_northwest_Greenland.pdf eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Kjær , K H , Larsen , N K , Binder , T , Bjørk , A A , Eisen , O , Fahnestock , M , Funder , S V , Garde , A A , Haack , H , Helm , V , Houmark-Nielsen , M , Kjeldsen , K K , Khan , S , Machguth , H , McDonald , I , Morlighem , M , Mouginot , J , Paden , J D , Waight , T E , Weikusat , C , Willerslev , E & MacGregor , J 2018 , ' A large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier in northwest Greenland ' , Science Advances , vol. 4 , no. 11 , eaar8173 . https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aar8173 article 2018 ftcopenhagenunip https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aar8173 2022-11-23T23:53:27Z We report the discovery of a large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier in northwest Greenland. From airborne radar surveys, we identify a 31-kilometer-wide, circular bedrock depression beneath up to a kilometer of ice. This depression has an elevated rim that cross-cuts tributary subglacial channels and a subdued central uplift that appears to be actively eroding. From ground investigations of the deglaciated foreland, we identify overprinted structures within Precambrian bedrock along the ice margin that strike tangent to the subglacial rim. Glaciofluvial sediment from the largest river draining the crater contains shocked quartz and other impact-related grains. Geochemical analysis of this sediment indicates that the impactor was a fractionated iron asteroid, which must have been more than a kilometer wide to produce the identified crater. Radiostratigraphy of the ice in the crater shows that the Holocene ice is continuous and conformable, but all deeper and older ice appears to be debris rich or heavily disturbed. The age of this impact crater is presently unknown, but from our geological and geophysical evidence, we conclude that it is unlikely to predate the Pleistocene inception of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Greenland Ice Sheet University of Copenhagen: Research Greenland Science Advances 4 11 eaar8173 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Copenhagen: Research |
op_collection_id |
ftcopenhagenunip |
language |
English |
description |
We report the discovery of a large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier in northwest Greenland. From airborne radar surveys, we identify a 31-kilometer-wide, circular bedrock depression beneath up to a kilometer of ice. This depression has an elevated rim that cross-cuts tributary subglacial channels and a subdued central uplift that appears to be actively eroding. From ground investigations of the deglaciated foreland, we identify overprinted structures within Precambrian bedrock along the ice margin that strike tangent to the subglacial rim. Glaciofluvial sediment from the largest river draining the crater contains shocked quartz and other impact-related grains. Geochemical analysis of this sediment indicates that the impactor was a fractionated iron asteroid, which must have been more than a kilometer wide to produce the identified crater. Radiostratigraphy of the ice in the crater shows that the Holocene ice is continuous and conformable, but all deeper and older ice appears to be debris rich or heavily disturbed. The age of this impact crater is presently unknown, but from our geological and geophysical evidence, we conclude that it is unlikely to predate the Pleistocene inception of the Greenland Ice Sheet. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kjær, Kurt H. Larsen, Nicolaj Krog Binder, Tobias Bjørk, Anders Anker Eisen, Olaf Fahnestock, Mark Funder, Svend Visby Garde, Adam A. Haack, Henning Helm, Veit Houmark-Nielsen, Michael Kjeldsen, Kristian Kjellerup Khan, Shfaqat Machguth, Horst McDonald, Iain Morlighem, Mathieu Mouginot, Jéremie Paden, John D. Waight, Tod Earle Weikusat, Christian Willerslev, Eske MacGregor, Joseph |
spellingShingle |
Kjær, Kurt H. Larsen, Nicolaj Krog Binder, Tobias Bjørk, Anders Anker Eisen, Olaf Fahnestock, Mark Funder, Svend Visby Garde, Adam A. Haack, Henning Helm, Veit Houmark-Nielsen, Michael Kjeldsen, Kristian Kjellerup Khan, Shfaqat Machguth, Horst McDonald, Iain Morlighem, Mathieu Mouginot, Jéremie Paden, John D. Waight, Tod Earle Weikusat, Christian Willerslev, Eske MacGregor, Joseph A large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier in northwest Greenland |
author_facet |
Kjær, Kurt H. Larsen, Nicolaj Krog Binder, Tobias Bjørk, Anders Anker Eisen, Olaf Fahnestock, Mark Funder, Svend Visby Garde, Adam A. Haack, Henning Helm, Veit Houmark-Nielsen, Michael Kjeldsen, Kristian Kjellerup Khan, Shfaqat Machguth, Horst McDonald, Iain Morlighem, Mathieu Mouginot, Jéremie Paden, John D. Waight, Tod Earle Weikusat, Christian Willerslev, Eske MacGregor, Joseph |
author_sort |
Kjær, Kurt H. |
title |
A large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier in northwest Greenland |
title_short |
A large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier in northwest Greenland |
title_full |
A large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier in northwest Greenland |
title_fullStr |
A large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier in northwest Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
A large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier in northwest Greenland |
title_sort |
large impact crater beneath hiawatha glacier in northwest greenland |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/a-large-impact-crater-beneath-hiawatha-glacier-in-northwest-greenland(996577e5-b621-47e2-94d6-72a2752f44a0).html https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aar8173 https://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/210102979/A_large_impact_crater_beneath_Hiawatha_Glacier_in_northwest_Greenland.pdf |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
glacier Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
glacier Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Kjær , K H , Larsen , N K , Binder , T , Bjørk , A A , Eisen , O , Fahnestock , M , Funder , S V , Garde , A A , Haack , H , Helm , V , Houmark-Nielsen , M , Kjeldsen , K K , Khan , S , Machguth , H , McDonald , I , Morlighem , M , Mouginot , J , Paden , J D , Waight , T E , Weikusat , C , Willerslev , E & MacGregor , J 2018 , ' A large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier in northwest Greenland ' , Science Advances , vol. 4 , no. 11 , eaar8173 . https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aar8173 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aar8173 |
container_title |
Science Advances |
container_volume |
4 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
eaar8173 |
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