Tenoumer crater

{{Infobox terrestrial impact site

| name = Tenoumer crater

| other_name =

| photo = Tenoumer Krater.jpg

| photo_caption =

| map = Africa

| map_caption = Asteroid impact location in Africa

| coordinates = {{coord|22|55|5|N|10|24|27|W|type:landmark_region:MR|display=inline,title}}

| confidence = Confirmed

| diameter = {{cvt|1.9|km}}

| depth = * {{cvt|110|m}} (currently exposed)

{{cvt|300|to|400|m}} (originally)

| age = 21,400 ± 9,700

| exposed =

| drilled =

| imp_size =

| bolide =

| country = Mauritania

| state =

}}

Tenoumer is a probable impact crater in Mauritania.{{cite Earth Impact DB | name = Tenoumer| accessdate = 2009-08-16}}

Details

The crater is located in the western Sahara Desert. It is {{cvt|1.9|km||}} in diameter and its age was estimated to be 21,400 ± 9,700 years old but as of 2016, is thought to be ~1.57 Ma.{{cite journal |url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2003/pdf/1183.pdf |publisher=The Meteoritical Society |title=Tenoumer impact crater, Mauritania: Impact melt genesis from a lithologically diverse target |journal=Meteoritics and Planetary Science |year=2016 |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=323–350 |last1=Schultze |first1=Dina Simona |last2=Jourdan |first2=Fred |last3=Hecht |first3=Lutz |last4=Reimold |first4=Wolf Uwe |last5=Ralf-Thomas |first5=Schmitt |doi=10.1111/maps.12593|bibcode=2016M&PS...51..323S |doi-access=free }}

The crater is exposed at the surface and is nearly circular. Edges of the crater rise up to {{cvt|110|m||}} high above the base of the crater, but the bottom of the crater is covered with an approximately {{cvt|200|to|300|m}} thick layer of sediments.{{Cite web |title=Tenoumer Crater, Mauritania |url=https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2022/06/Tenoumer_Crater_Mauritania |access-date=2022-11-20 |website=www.esa.int |language=en}}

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,[http://www.wondermondo.com/Countries/Af/Mauritania/TirisZemmour/Tenoumer.htm METEORITE OR VOLCANO?] but current evidence clearly indicates an impact origin.{{cite web |author=Brügge, Norbert |url=http://www.b14643.de/Sahara/Mauritania%20Craters/index.htm |title=The "impact" craters of Mauritania: Aouelloul, Tenoumer, Temimichat and El Mrayer |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100223024521/http://www.b14643.de/Sahara/Mauritania%20Craters/index.htm |archivedate=2010-02-23 }}

References

External links

[http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=8536 Nasa - Image of the Day February 17, 2008]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20051118163420/http://saharamet.com/expedition/2003/crater.html Meteorite impact structures]
[https://www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase/images/tenoumer.htm Additional Images of Tenoumer crater]

Category:Impact craters of Mauritania

Category:Pleistocene impact craters