Tookoonooka crater

Tookoonooka is a large meteorite impact crater (astrobleme) situated in southwestern Queensland, Australia. It lies deeply buried within Mesozoic sedimentary rocks of the Eromanga Basin and is not visible at the surface.

Tookoonooka was discovered using seismic data collected during routine petroleum exploration and first reported in a publication in 1989,Gorter J.D., Gostin V.A. & Plummer P. 1989. The Tookoonooka Structure: an enigmatic sub-surface feature in the Eromanga Basin, its impact origin and implications for petroleum exploration. In: O’Neil B.J. (editor) The Cooper and Eromanga Basins, Australia: Proceedings of the Cooper and Eromanga Basins Conference, Adelaide, 1989, pp. 441–456. Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SA Branches).] with proof of the impact theory coming from the discovery of shocked quartz in drill core.Gostin V.A. & Therriault A.M. 1997. Tookoonooka, a large buried Early Cretaceous impact structure in the Eromanga Basin of southwestern Queensland, Australia. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 32, 593–599. [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1997M%26PS...32..593G&db_key=AST&high=3c688e4da320668 Abstract and full PDF] ] Estimates of the crater diameter range between 55 km and 66 km. ] , ] The impact occurred during deposition of the Cretaceous Cadna-owie Formation, the age of which is variously estimated at being between 123–133 Ma, ] , ] or 115–112 Ma.Gorter J.D. 1998. The petroleum potential of Australian Phanerozoic impact structures. APPEA Journal 38, 159–187.] Tookoonooka is associated with several small oil fields. ]

The seismic data reveal a similar nearby structure of the same age referred to as Talundilly.Longley I.M. 1989. The Talundilly anomaly and its implications for hydrocarbon exploration of Eromanga astroblemes. In: O’Neil B.J. (editor) The Cooper and Eromanga Basins, Australia: Proceedings of the Cooper and Eromanga Basins Conference, Adelaide, 1989, pp. 473–490. Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SA Branches).] , ] , ] Although it seems likely that Tookoonooka and Talundilly are paired impact craters, proof that the later is of impact origin is not possible without drilling.

References

External links

* [http://www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase/images/tookoonooka.htm Tookoonooka] at Earth Impact Database, retrieved 31 March 2007.