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A story told by calcareous nannofossils—the timing and course of an Eocene meteorite impact in central Jordan

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Abstract

A circular structure, 5.5 km in diameter, in central eastern Jordan has been interpreted as a large meteorite impact structure. The age of the Waqf As Suwwan impact is poorly constrained. By examining calcareous nannofossils from the sediments exposed in this structure, an age model of the timing of the event has been obtained. A total of 81 smear slides from two cores (BH-1, BH-2) penetrating the sediments of the central structure were prepared in order to obtain a biostratigraphic age for the post-impact sediments. The calcareous nannofossils assign sediments below the breccias of the core BH-1 an age of late Campanian to late Maastrichtian and a mixture of late Maastrichtian to early Eocene ages in the breccia horizon, while core BH-2 is of early Maastrichtian to late Maastrichtian age. The upper part of the sediments, removed in from adjacent area, consists of breccia components. The presences of calcareous nannofossil marker assemblages suggest that these components were derived from two different sources: a Cretaceous and a Paleocene-Early Eocene one. The deposition of the breccia resulted from gravitational collapse of water-saturated sediments in two stages; the earlier of these was more intensive than the latter. The stratigraphic framework and the presence of reworked Cretaceous and Paleocene calcareous nannofossils within Paleogene nannofossil Zone NP12/NP13 suggests an early Eocene age for the impact. The upper part of the Cretaceous sediments was thermally altered by the impact causing partial or complete dissolution of the calcareous nannofossils. This caused overgrowth for the more resistant species, while others were dissolved.

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Acknowledgments

This study is in cooperation between the American University of Beirut, the Ruhr University Bochum, and the University of Jordan. The University of Jordan hosts the cores. All the analyses were performed in the Ruhr University Bochum and in the Central Research Science Laboratory at the American University of Beirut. The authors would like to thank Dr. Rolf Neuser from the SEM lab of the Department of Geology, Mineralogy and Geophysics (Bochum) for his support. We would like to thank Dr. Jean Self-Trail and Dr. David Watkins for their useful suggestions. We also would like to thank Ms. Ibtisam Baik for her helpful comments. The second author thanks Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) for their support during his research visit in Museum für Naturkunde.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Yarmouk University, 21163, Irbid, Jordan

    Mohammad Alqudah

  2. Department of Geology, University of Jordan, Amman, 11942, Jordan

    Hani Khoury & Elias Salameh

  3. Institute for Geology, Mineralogy and Geophysics, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801, Bochum, Germany

    Joerg Mutterlose

Authors
  1. Mohammad Alqudah
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  2. Hani Khoury
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  3. Elias Salameh
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  4. Joerg Mutterlose
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammad Alqudah.

Additional information

Highlights

• Clasts and matrix of the sedimentary breccias were tested.

• The clasts of the breccia were derived from a Paleocene-early Eocene source.

• Material was deposited by gravitational collapses of water-saturated sediments.

• The overgrowth formed on the most resistant taxa during the event.

Appendix

Appendix

Taxonomic list of species have used in this study listed below:

Ahmuellerella Reinhardt

A. octoradiata (Górka) Reinhardt

A. regularis (Górka) Reinhardt and Górka

Arkhangelskiella Vekshina

A. cymbiformis Vekshina

A. maastrichtiana Varol’s

Biscutum Black in Black and Barnes

B. constans (Górka) Black in Black and Barnes

B. ellipticum (Górka) Grün in Grün and Allemann

B. melaniae (Górka) Burnett

Broinsonia Bukry

B. parca (Stradner) Bukry ssp. constricta Hattner et al.

Coccolithus Schwarz

C. pelagicus (Wallich) Schiller

C. formosus (Kamptner) Wise

Cribrosphaerella Deflandre in Piveteau

C. ehrenbergii (Arkhangelsky) Deflandre in Piveteau

Chiasmozygus Gartner

C. bifarius Bukry

Cylindralithus Bramlette and Martini

C. sculptus Bukry

Discoaster Tan

D. barbadiensis Tan

D. binodosus Martini

D. deflandrei Bramlette and Riedel

D. lodoensis Bramlette and Riedel

D. mahmoudii Perch-Nielsen

D. minimus Sullivan

D. multiradiatus Bramlette and Riedel

D. septemradiatus (Klumpp) Martini

Eiffellithus Reinhardt

E. eximius (Stover) Perch-Nielsen

E. gorkae Reinhardt

E. parallelus Perch-Nielsen

Ericsonia Black

E. robusta (Bramlette and Sullivan) Edwards and Perch-Nielsen

Gartnerago Bukry

G. segmentatum (Stover) Thierstein

Girgisia (Bramlette and Sullivan) Voral

G. gammation (Bramlette and Sullivan) Voral

Lithraphidites Deflandre

L. carniolensis Deflandre

L. quadratus Bramlette and Martini

Loxolithus Noël

Loxolithus armilla (Black in Black & Barnes) Noël

Microrhabdulus Deflandre

M. decoratus Deflandre

Micula Vekshina

M. decussata Vekshina

M. murus (Martini) Bukry

M. staurophora (Gardet) Stradner

Micrantholithus Deflandre in Deflandre and Fert

M. speetonensis (Bukry) Perch-Nielsen

Prediscosphaera Vekshina

P. cretacea (Arkhangelsky) Gartner

P. grandis Perch-Nielsen

P. spinosa (Bramlette and Martini) Gartner

Placozygus Hoffman

P. fibuliformis (Reinhardt) Hoffman

Perissocyclus Black

P. fenestratus (Stover) Blak

Petrarhabdus Wind and Wise in Wise

P.copulates (Deflandre) Wind and Wise in Wise

Prinsius Hay and Mohler

P. dimorphosus (Perch-Nielsen) Perch-Nielsen

Reinhardtites Perch-Nielsen

Reinhardtites levis Prins & Sissingh in Sissingh

Retecapsa Black

R. angustiforata Black

R. crenulata (Bramlette and Martini) Grün in Grün and Allemann

Reticulofenestra Hay, Mohler and Wade

R. dictyoda (Deflandre in Deflandre & Fert) Stradner in Stradner & Edward

Rhagodiscus Reinhardt

R. angustus (Stradner) Reinhardt

R. reniformis Perch-Nielsen

Sphenolithus Deflandre in Grassè

S. radians Deflandre in Grassè

S. spiniger Bukry

Tranolithus Stover

T. orionatus (Reinhardt) Reinhardt

T. minimus Bukry

Tortolithus Crux in Crux et al.

T. caistorensis Crux in Crux et al.

Triquetrorhabdulus Martini

T. shetlandensis (Perch-Nielsen) Bown

Thoracosphaera Kamptner

Watznaueria Reinhardt

W. barnesiae (Black) Perch-Nielsen

W. biporta Bukry

W. ovata Bukry

Zeugrhabdotus Reinhardt

Z. noeliae Rood et al.

Z. sigmoides (Bramlette and Sullivan) Bown and Young

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Alqudah, M., Khoury, H., Salameh, E. et al. A story told by calcareous nannofossils—the timing and course of an Eocene meteorite impact in central Jordan. Arab J Geosci 11, 451 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-018-3776-z

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