Talk:Possible Impact Crater at Nevada's Black Rock Desert

Ian needs to take some more geology classes, he obviously has not studied the geologic history of the Nevada rift and the volcanic forearc setting which existed in the Black Rock region while it was a near shore marine environment. He also needs to study the development of the Great Basin and the migration of epithermal systems. His image of shocked quartz is most likely fission tracts from the decay of Uranium. I personally would not have a link to his page, it is an interesting theory, but his research clearly demonstrates that he is a dilettante and shouldn't be taken seriously -geology grad student @ UNR

• Hello. Well, you can call me a dilettante - but I already said I'm not a geologist so we're just picking different words for the same thing. The point of the page is that I found something interesting which doesn't seem to have been studied. I found enough to be confident in posting it. But I'll never have the resources to make a scientific proof. I know that you might prefer to have proof before you can consider it - we just aren't there yet. So that's part of the effort to find help. Every time we go there, we find more evidence. For example, at Upper High Dry Lakebed, it's very easy to find breccias, some mixed with lava-like melt rocks. And they're in layers above very fractured rocks, across the southern Black Rock Range - so the breccias aren't just from faulting. That is not normal for a volcano - but it is for an impact. There are a lot more things like that newer than the Febrary page - there will be an update after this season's visits. I don't know if I can convince you to have a more open mind about it. But a group of geologists called the Impact Field Studies Group has put it on their list of sites to take a look at - though not an endorsement, they also don't accept submissions lightly. If this is confirmed, UNR will undoubtedly become the focus of research about it. And the subject would provide many future UNR geology students with their PhDs. Some geologists with impact experience are intrigued by what we've found so far, and said they look forward to joining me on a future trip there. If you contact me off-line, I'd be happy to bring you along on a future trip so we can discuss this on-site at Black Rock. I'll listen to you. And I hope you'll listen to me too. Ikluft 22:00, 22 August 2007 (PDT)
• By the way, I should point out that I'm not the one who added the link about the suspected impact site on the home page of this wiki. The only link I added there was to the Stratofox Aerospace Tracking Team, though someone here had already added a page linking to Stratofox. Friends of the Black Rock Desert appears to be genuinely trying to collect lots of info about the Black Rock Desert here. Ikluft 22:22, 22 August 2007 (PDT)

• I don't usually monitor this page, but by "rift and forearc setting" it sounds as if Student is referring to the accretion on to the continent of western Nevada. There were both volcanic and sedimentary layers formed in the region during accretion, but that I think that was in the Permian. There are thought to be thick Triassic sedimentary deposits under the Black Rock desert region, which is why oil companies tried drilling there a few times. The Triassic was after the Permian, so Permian volcanic deposits should not be above the Triassic layer. It has been noticed that Jurassic sediments are missing from the crater zone; some Triassic/Jurassic formations have been reported over in the Jackson Mountains. Student, because it is recent research, are you aware that the Sierra Nevada slip fault extended through the east side of the Calico Mountains (and Black Rock Range) and slipped hundreds of km north until around 100 MYa? Student, are you also aware that the Basin & Range extension began only recently in the Black Rock area? We are aware of the 15MYa volcanic region recently identified NW of Black Rock Range. I do know that I don't know enough geology to confirm this is an impact crater, although I have found evidence against a few surface clues but not the rocks. I can dig up references if you want to read some of the research I've found in the area, but I know I haven't done a thorough search of the literature. (SEWilco)