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Physical map of Serra da Cangalha, Brazil, impact structure, produced using the digital elevation model of the TanDEM-X mission. Credits: Gottwald, Kenkmann, Reimold: Terrestrial Impact Structures, The TanDEM-X Atlas, Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil
Prof. Dr. Thomas Kenkmann, geologist of the Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Friborg, together with the mineralogist Prof. Dr. Wolf Uwe Reimold of the University of Brasilia, Brazil, and Dr. Manfred Gottwald of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has published an atlas that provides a comprehensive overview of all known impact craters on each continent. The authors present the more than 200 earth impact sites in high-resolution topographic maps and satellite imagery, complete with detailed geological descriptions and photographs of crater structures and their rocks. They also explain the essential details of each impact event.
Crater formation by impact from asteroids and comets has always been a fundamental process in the solar system, Kenkmann explains. As the planets developed along with their moons, these impacts played an important role in increasing planetary mass, shaping the surfaces of planetary bodies and later influencing their development as well. And larger meteorite impacts ultimately affected the development of life on Earth.
Today, the mapping of what can still be seen of impact structures on the Earth’s surface can be done by satellites in low Earth orbit. From 2010 to 2016, the DLR successfully measured the Earth’s surface with the radar satellites of the TanDEM-X mission. The acquired data allowed, for the first time, to derive a world terrain model with a height precision up to one meter. From this global digital elevation model the authors were able to produce this complete 600-page topographic atlas with information on all known Earth impact craters to date.
Reference: Gottwald, M., Kenkmann, T., Reimold, WU (2020): Terrestrial Impact Structures. The TanDEM-X Atlas. Part 1 and 2. Monaco.
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