Tenoumer crater

Tenoumer crater
Impact crater/structure
Confidence	Confirmed
Diameter	1.9 km (1.2 mi)
Depth	110 m (360 ft) (currently exposed); ; 300 to 400 m (980 to 1,310 ft) (originally);
Age	21,400 ± 9,700
Location
Coordinates	22°55′5″N 10°24′27″W / 22.91806°N 10.40750°WCoordinates: 22°55′5″N 10°24′27″W / 22.91806°N 10.40750°W
Country	Mauritania
	Tenoumer crater Asteroid impact location in Africa

Tenoumer is considered to be an impact crater in Mauritania.^[1]

Details[]

The crater is located in the western Sahara Desert. It is 1.9 km (1.2 mi) in diameter and its age is estimated to be 21,400 ± 9,700 years old.^[2]

The crater is exposed at the surface and is nearly circular. Edges of the crater rise up to 110 m (360 ft) high above the base of the crater, but the bottom of the crater is covered with approximately 200 to 300 m (660 to 980 ft) thick layer of sediments.^{[citation needed]}

Tenoumer crater has formed in gneiss and granite of Precambrian peneplain with a thin layer of Pliocene sediments (no older). The crater is believed to be caused by an impact event due to basement rocks found outside the crater. A volcanic origin was once theorized because of the discovery of basalt and rhyodacite outside of the crater basin,^[3] but current evidence clearly indicates an impact origin.^[4]

References[]

^ "Tenoumer". Earth Impact Database. Planetary and Space Science Centre University of New Brunswick Fredericton. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
^ Schultze, Dina Simona; Jourdan, Fred; Hecht, Lutz; Reimold, Wolf Uwe; Ralf-Thomas, Schmitt (2016). "Tenoumer impact crater, Mauritania: Impact melt genesis from a lithologically diverse target" (PDF). Meteoritics and Planetary Science. The Meteoritical Society. 51 (2): 323–350. Bibcode:2016M&PS...51..323S. doi:10.1111/maps.12593.
^ METEORITE OR VOLCANO?
^ Brügge, Norbert. "The "impact" craters of Mauritania: Aouelloul, Tenoumer, Temimichat and El Mrayer". Archived from the original on 2010-02-23.

External links[]

[1] "Tenoumer". Earth Impact Database. Planetary and Space Science Centre University of New Brunswick Fredericton. Retrieved 2009-08-16.

[2] Schultze, Dina Simona; Jourdan, Fred; Hecht, Lutz; Reimold, Wolf Uwe; Ralf-Thomas, Schmitt (2016). "Tenoumer impact crater, Mauritania: Impact melt genesis from a lithologically diverse target" (PDF). Meteoritics and Planetary Science. The Meteoritical Society. 51 (2): 323–350. Bibcode:2016M&PS...51..323S. doi:10.1111/maps.12593.

[3] METEORITE OR VOLCANO?

[4] Brügge, Norbert. "The "impact" craters of Mauritania: Aouelloul, Tenoumer, Temimichat and El Mrayer". Archived from the original on 2010-02-23.

[1]

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