Re: On the detection of the Wilkes Land impact crater

On 4/15/25 11:26 AM, x wrote:

On 4/13/25 09:07, erik simpson wrote:

https://earth-planets-space.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40623-018-0904-7
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Abstract
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The definitive existence of a giant impact crater, two times larger than the Chixulub crater in the Yucatan peninsula, from an extraterrestrial origin, 1.6 km beneath Wilkes Land, East Antarctica, remain controversial. Here, we use the latest high-resolution gravito-topographic geopotential (SatGravRET 2014) model over Antarctica to offer a plausible confirmation of its existence. SatGravRET 2014 has a spatial resolution between 1 and 10 km at most places and included contemporary space gravimetry and gradiometry data from GRACE and GOCE, and other data including Bedmap 2 bedrock topography. We computed the gravity disturbances, the Marussi tensor of the second derivatives of the disturbing potential, the gravity invariants and their specific ratio, the strike angles and the virtual deformations to quantify the detailed geophysical features for the Wilkes Land anomaly. This set of the gravitational parameters revealed enhanced and more detailed geophysical features on the Wilkes Land Crater than previously possible only with the traditional gravity anomalies. Our findings support prior studies stating that in the Wilkes Land there is a huge impact crater/basin with detectable gravity mascon which is mostly consistent with the characteristics of an impact crater.
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The discussion includes the following: "These results widen space for geophysical interpretations and speculations. The huge impact had a planetary consequence, including for example the striking antipodal relationship of it to the Siberian Raps (claimed by von Frese et al. 2009).".
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If "Siberian Raps" really means Siberian Traps, the paleontological implications are obvious.

 Maybe I am reading this article way off, but it seems to me that
it might imply that some remnants of the theoretical crater might
be in Australia, based upon the theory of continental drift.
 Australia in geologic time might have been closer to Antarctica than
it is now.  A lot of Australia now is not under a lot of ice like
Antarctica is, and this might make some data easier to gather in some
ways.  Can you find any data or articles on the theoretical Australian remnants of the crater if such data or such a crater exists?
 

No, that is way off.  The crater in question is definitely in Antarctica, deep under the ice.  There is another very large (bigger than Chixilub) in Australia that is about just about at the end of the Ediacaran (~550 Mya).  Check out the second of my posts on the 13th. (Meteoritic debris at the PT boundary.  If (big If) it's the same Antarctic crater it may have contributed to the biggest extinction event.  We won't know until we can examine rocks from the crater itself.