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]

You are of course free to misuse the term lineament to define what you believe is a series of impacts similar to the Shoemaker-Levy 9.

Perhaps Geomatt will weigh in with his opinion on its usage. Merely connecting dots along the 38th parallel does not make it a lineament.

[GeoMatt]

You are of course free to misuse the term lineament to define what you believe is a series of impacts similar to the Shoemaker-Levy 9.

Perhaps Geomatt will weigh in with his opinion on its usage. Merely connecting dots along the 38th parallel does not make it a lineament.

Gene - I'm ok with the use of the "38th Parallel Lineament", as the term predates any work Mr. Tonko has ever published on the feature. However, published peer reviewed literature (that I've come across) does not include several of the features that he includes in the lineament. I'm not sure how one would argue 38th Parallel Lineament vs. Tonko Lineament, my guess is that there would be some push back in peer review. If ever proven, I would see this as an extension of the 38th Parallel Lineament, not a renamed Tonko Lineament. The majority of features in the "Tonko Lineament" have been previously identified and the lineament named, and they would be attributable to the same impact event. But feature naming is well ahead of this discussion, you have to make a defendable discovery before you worry about the name.

As for the "crater(s)" he has identified north of Westcliffe - I am very skeptical that it is in fact an impact feature. Given a proposed impact date of Late Devonian, the significant geomorphological changes of the Wet Valley from the Late Cenozoic through the Oligocene (plutonism, explosive volcanism, structural evolution, etc...), and the common rock types of the valley that could be easily mistaken for impact related rocks (tuffs, breccias, rhyolites), I see little chance of this ring structure being an impact feature. Historical mapping in the area has it as an exposed overturned anticline, but very little detailed mapping has been completed in the Mitchell Mountain area with regard to rock types. However, I also haven't seen any geological information in this thread that is definitive, most of it appears to take some creative liberties and depend on non-linear associations (no pun intended). That said, I was already planning on being in Westcliffe this summer for the rodeo. I'll look at the rocks then and decide what I see.