Westcliffe and Silver Cliff Meteorite Craters, Further Evidence of Extinction Level Event Options

[ASTROBLEME]

Greetings Everyone,

I am announcing this discovery as a long time contributor to the Colorado Prospector Forum and want to make sure that other members have access to this information. After initiating a research effort in 2005, I have been able to collect substantial evidence to support a double meteorite impact located in Custer County, Colorado. The Westcliffe Crater is the larger structure while the Silver Cliff Crater is smaller and both are named for the towns nearby. All my work has been done independently and at my own cost.

This previously unrecognized double crater structure is paired with my discovery of the Gunnison Crater. All 3 impacts occurred 360 to 375 million years ago. These impact craters are further evidence supporting the Tonko Lineament that recognizes the serial impacts across the United States aligning on the 38th Parallel. The crater chain and associated fish fossil records I have researched indicate a Devonian mass extinction event where 70% of life on our planet was eliminated. Along with hyper-velocity geologic evidence in the target zone, I have also recovered two meteorite types that are in the early process of classification.

Peak Ring Image of Westcliffe and Silver Cliff Craters


Westcliffe Meteorite (photo with light sourced to highlight metal inclusions but chondrules are still visible)



Silver Cliff Meteorite



Sincerely,

Johnny Tonko

[Gene Kooper]

I ran across an interesting presentation at the 2012 Rocky Mountain Section GSA conference in Albuquerque, NM. The presentation was the last talk of the Meteorites and Impact Craters (GSA Planetary Geology Division) session. Here is a link to the abstract of Joel G. Duncan's presentation.

THE COLORADO CATACLYSM: AN IMPACT CRATER CLUSTER IN THE FRONT RANGE

Remote sensing and extensive field studies have revealed a previously unknown cluster of impact structures in the Colorado Front Range Mountains. Seven circular structures ranging from 10 km to 30 km in diameter were identified with USGS LIDAR as well as Google Earth satellite imagery in the Front Range west of I-25 between Denver and Colorado Springs.

I am most interested in the Lake George impact structure as many years ago I had conducted a lineament analysis north of Lake George. At the time I thought the radial and ring linear features were related to a small stock to the southwest. I used the lineament analysis to locate lode mining claims for my client.

The last paragraph of the abstract may be of interest to some here.

Clustering strongly suggests that the impacts were essentially simultaneous and therefore formed during the same impact event. A maximum age of the impact structures is established by shatter cones found in sandstone of the Cambrian Sawatch Formation at the northwest end of the Woodland Park graben. Several impact structures are cut by Laramide faults (K- Eocene) giving an upper age limit for the impact event.

Included in the link is the PowerPoint presentation with several graphics showing the impact structures, shatter cones and diaplectic glass.