Department of Interior -- U.S. Geological Survey -- USGS Marine and Coastal Geology Program


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Potential Mineral Enrichment

A second possible positive implication of the bolide impact is the potential for mineral enrichment. The most common form of mineral enrichment by bolides is concentration by melting of minerals already present in the target rocks, especially the basement rocks.

There are 35 different impact structures on Earth now providing significant mineral resources. The two most productive are the Vredefort structure in South Africa, which produces $7 billion dollars per year worth of gold and uranium, and the Sudbury structure in Ontario, which produces $2 billion per year in copper, nickel, and platinum. Structures as large as the Chesapeake Bay crater, especially those developed in crystalline basement rocks, are expected to have large, mineral-rich melt sheets near the base of the breccia.

But of course, the Chesapeake Bay crater is not at the surface, like Vredefort and Sudbury, so again we will have to wait until a future date to take advantage of whatever mineral resources might lie beneath the bay.


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Last Modified: July 17, 1996