Coaldale Crater Gemstones, Meteorite Impact Produces Rare Specimens Options

[ASTROBLEME]

Members and Guests of Colorado Prospector,

Many years ago I discovered a highly eroded, geologically complex and very ancient impact crater centered 3 ¼ miles northwest of Coaldale, Colorado (USA). I am announcing this discovery as a long-time contributor to this forum in an effort to assure that the public has access to this information. Dan (the owner and operator of Colorado Prospector) is preparing some of my "Coaldale Crater" specimens for jewelry settings. He has graciously agreed to document his work progress so that others can gain a better understanding of the effort it takes to transform these raw materials into valuable gemstones. Please take time to follow this project along the way. I hope you find the subject interesting.

I'll be sharing the science behind this amazing discovery as our work progresses. This research builds upon my work at Gunnison Crater, Westcliffe Crater, Silver Cliff Crater and Hillside Crater that proved an extension to the 38th Parallel Crater Chain dating to the Late Devonian Period. Although the Coaldale Crater is also along the 38th Parallel, it is not part of the well documented crater chain system. My efforts in the Coaldale Colorado region included collecting field survey data, acquiring and analyzing numerous geologic specimens followed by an extensive review of the relevant scientific literature. The results support an impact event that occurred during the Oligocene Epoch.

For now, I'm providing the attached map depicting the present peak ring exposure. It is fascinating that this impact crater has survived the deep erosion and strong fault deformation that Mother Nature has provided continually over the past 27+ million years.

Sincerely,

ASTROBLEME

[ASTROBLEME]

Hello Eric,

Thanks for looking at this matter from a scientific perspective. I'll try and answer your inquiry.

Re: Coaldale Crater
First, lets cover the peer review question. I have been a member of the Impact Field Studies Group that traveled around researching impact craters. The group is no longer active as interest in these maters seems to follow funding and there isn't much available any more from public sources. Prior to retiring as a scientist/researcher from the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, I can assure you that I have completed much research and written numerous papers that were then reviewed at all sorts of levels including judicial review up to the Colorado State Supreme Court. For decades, my work was property of the government agency that employed me...not my own. The government controlled the data and results and I understood that process all too well. The thing that always bothered me most was if my findings did not square with the politics of the issue or it was contrary to what high level decision makers were trying to support or deny, then my work was never released publicly. This problem is systemic...you see it everyday when Freedom of Information Act Requests are made or Sunshine Laws are used to get required info from public sources. This is the same pattern seen in many scientific communities. Peer review papers are owned by the publisher and often, one must pay the publisher just to read them. My personal work product belongs to me. Therefore, I can share my research with those interested parties without limitations. It is for these reasons that I don't care to "gain a lot of clout if you get other learned individuals to agree with your theories" as you suggest.

As I noted in the posting of August 6th at 8:05, I advised readers that I'm am still months away from finalizing results from all the data I have collected from this structure at Coaldale. The FUS-ICP and INAA lab tests I have in-hand and all the others that I'm still in process of obtaining on Coaldale, along with continued lab work for samples from Gunnison, Hillside, Westcliffe and Silver Cliff Craters...well that is very expensive. Since I self-fund all this, it is going to take much more time until I've finished with this effort. Vesicles are not present in the Coaldale Meteorite. You might be seeing the pits from my cutting equipment in the pics of the meteorite. My saw is old and worn out, so it wobbles, shakes and tears out the chondrules leaving behind a spherical pit that resembles a vesicle. I think the fresh cuts that CP is doing do not show anything like vesicles in the meteorite specimen. He is more skilled at cutting than I and he has the proper equipment for the work he's performing. Keep in mind that ancient meteorites are very altered by weathering and they look nothing like modern meteorites that are in collections today.

Planar deformation features produced by shock are the features that are generally accepted as unequivocal evidence for hypervelocity impact. I have done that for each crater by use of a 60X stereo microscope to confirm their presence or absence in field samples. The slickensides indicate the direction the rock moved and the great number, intensity and direction of the slickensides at Coadale point towards a cratering event. Understanding the volcanic events provides further evidence of an impact event. The age sequence is inverse for the volcanic-stratigraphic succession at Coaldale Crater. Specifically, the 27 Ma ignimbrites are buried underneath 32 Ma strata. I saw this same overlaying of older strata on younger strata when I visited Canyon Diablo Crater in Arizona a few years ago. The impact process overturns and reworks whatever deposits are in place at time of impact. These inverse exposures at Coaldale Crater are strongly indicative of an impact event.

Re: Gunnison Crater
On my company website in the Gunnison Tektite offerings, I have given notice that it was tested in oxyacetylene flame to incandescent temps without melting. On the 38th Parallel alignment, there has been some movement but the area as a whole has shifted and the uplifting and erosion isn't significant enough to shift the lineament pattern. Your concern over the pics of impact breccia should be put to the side by the 2 attached photos of sliced and polished Gunnison Crater breccia. Please take notice of the white glassy spheres that are impact-generated carbonate accretionary lapilli that are prima facia evidence of a crater event. These are also identical to those observed in the breccia at Alamo Crater. Alamo Crater is in my Tonko Alignment along the 38th Parallel, being the furthest west and also dates as late Devonian.

I probably haven’t answered everything you asked but I gave it an honest try. Please understand that if it weren't for my efforts, then these structures would still be unnoticed.

ASTROBLEME