Roter Kamm crater
Roter Kamm, aerial view direction south (April 2017)
Impact crater/structure
Confidence	Confirmed
Diameter	2.5 km (1.6 mi)
Age	4.81 ± 0.5 Ma Zanclean
Exposed	Yes
Drilled	No
Location
Location	Sperrgebiet, Namib Desert
Coordinates	27°46′0″S 16°17′20″E / 27.76667°S 16.28889°E / -27.76667; 16.28889
Country	Namibia
State	ǁKaras Region
Location of the crater in Namibia

Roter Kamm (German: Red Ridge) is a meteorite crater, located in the Sperrgebiet, within the Namibian section of the Namib Desert, approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Oranjemund and 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) southwest of Aurus Mountain in the ǁKaras Region. The crater is 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) in diameter and is 130 metres (430 ft) deep. The age is estimated at 4.81 ± 0.5 Ma, placing it in the Pliocene.^[1] The crater is exposed at the surface, but its original floor is covered by sand deposits at least 100 metres (330 ft) thick.

Description

The meteorite hit a layer of Precambrian granitic gneiss that is part of the Namaqua Metamorphic Complex, overlaid with some younger sedimentary rocks. No parts of the meteorite have been found, suggesting that it completely evaporated upon impact.^[2] The meteor that hit it was approximately the size of an SUV.^[3]

The Roter Kamm impact structure exposes a large volume of cataclastic/mylonitic and pseudotachylitic breccias in the basement granite and gneisses, which is unusual for small craters.^[4] Anomalous quartz found at the rim of the crater, and the primary fluid inclusions in the quartz, seem to provide evidence for post-impact hydrothermal activity, generated by impact heat, at the Roter Kamm impact crater.^[5] Eolian and alluvial processes each played a role in modifying the Roter Kamm impact crater since its formation. Much of the more recent history of crater modification relates to eolian processes. Active mobile sands largely bury the crater and effectively mask most of the signatures associated with prior activity by other processes. Ongoing eolian erosion is responsible for scouring of the exposed rim.^[6]

Gallery

Landsat image of the Roter Kamm crater; screen capture from NASA World Wind
Oblique Landsat image of Roter Kamm crater draped over digital elevation model (x2 vertical exaggeration); screen capture from NASA World Wind
False color space radar (SAR-C/X-SAR) image of Roter Kamm impact crater
Roter Kamm Bird's eye view direction North
Image of Roter Kamm crater at 14 000ft facing west; screen capture taken within Microsoft Flight Simulator

References

Bishop, J., Koeberl, C. and Reimold, W.U., "Geochemistry of the Roter Kamm impact crater, SWA/Namibia, Roter Kamm" (abstract). Meteoritics, v. 24, p. 252. 1989
Blumberg, D. G., McHone, J.F., Kuzmin, R. and Greeley, R., "Radar imaging of impact craters by SIR-C/X-SAR" (abstract). Lunar and Planetary Science XXVI, pp. 139–140. 1995
Brandt, D., Reimold, W.U., Franzsen, A.J., Koeberl, C., Wendorff, L., "Geophysical profile of the Roter Kamm impact crater, Namibia". Meteoritics & Planetary Science 33, pp. 447–453. 1998
Brandt, D., Reimold, W.U., Wendof, L., Koeberl, C. and Grant, J., "Geophysical signatures of the Roter Kamm impact crater, Namibia" (abstract). Lunar and Planetary Science, v. XXVII, pp. 153–154. 1996
Degenhardt, Jr, J.J., Buchanan, P.C. and Reid, A.M., "Impactite and pseudotachylite from Roter Kamm crater, Namibia" (abstract). International Conference on Large Meteorite Impacts and Planetary Evolution, LPI Contribution No. 790, pp. 20–21. 1992
Degenhardt, Jr, J.J., Buchanan, P.C., Reid, A.M. and Miller, R. McG., "Breccia veins and dykes associated with the Roter Kamm Crater, Namibia". Geological Society of America Special Paper 293, pp. 197–208. 1994
Degenhardt, Jr, J.J., Reid, A.M., Buchanan, P.C. and Miller, R. McG., "Melt breccias from Roter Kamm impact crater, Namibia" (abstract). Lunar and Planetary Science XXVI, pp. 323–324. 1995
Degenhardt, Jr, J.J., Reid, A.M., Miller, R. McG. and Reimold, W.U., "Breccias resembling melt bombs from the Roter Kamm Crater". Meteorites & Planetary Science, v. 31, pp. 413–415. 1996
Dietz, R. S., "Roter Kamm, southwest Africa: Probable meteorite crater". Meteoritics, v. 2, pp. 311–314. 1965
Fudali, R. F., "Roter Kamm: Evidence for an impact origin". Meteoritics, v. 8, pp. 245–257. 1973
Grieve, R. A. F., "Recent studies at the Roter Kamm impact crater". Meteoritics, v. 28, pp. 160. 1993
Hartung, J. B., Kunk, M.R., Reimold, W.U., Miller, R. McG. and Grieve, R.A.F., "Roter Kamm crater age: 3.5 to 4.0 Ma" (abstract). Meteoritics, v. 26, pp. 342–343. 1991.
Koeberl, C., "African meteorite impact craters: Characteristics and geological importance". Journal of African Sciences, v. 18, pp. 263–295. 1994
Koeberl, C., Klein, J., Matsuda, J., Nagao, K., Reimold, W.U. and Storzer, D., "Roter Kamm impact crater, Namibia: Age constraints from K-Ar, Rb-Sr, fission track, and 10Be-26 Al studies" (abstract). Meteoritics, v. 27, 244–245. 1992
Koeberl, C., Reimold, W.U., Bishop, J. and Miller, R.McG., "Roter Kamm impact crater, SWA/Namibia: New geochemical and isotopic studies and further evidence for post-impact hydrothermal activity" (abstract). Lunar and Planetary Science XXI, pp. 647–648. 1990
Koeberl, C., Reimold, W.U., Gotzinger, M. and Fredriksson, K., "Quartz at the Roter Kamm crater and post-impact hydrothermal activity: A reply to E. Roedder". Geochemica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 54, pp. 3249–3251. 1990
Koeberl, C., "The age of the Roter Kamm impact crater, Namibia: Constraints from 40Ar-39Ar, K-Ar, Rb-Sr, fission track, and 10Be-26Al studies". Meteoritics, v. 28, pp. 204–212. 1993
Miller, R. McG., Reimold, W. U., "Deformation and shock deformation in rocks from the Roter Kamm crater, SWA/Namibia" (abstract). Meteoritics, v. 21, pp. 456–458. 1986
Miller, R.M., "Roter Kamm impact crater of Namibia; new data of rim structure, target rock geochemistery, ejecta, and meteorite trajectory". Special Paper-Geological Society of America, vol.465, pp. 489–508. 2010
Rajmon, D., Copeland, P. , Reid, A. M. and Lavigne, J. -F., "Temperature of Formation of Pseudotachylytic Impact Breccias, Roter Kamm Crater, SW Namibia". 62nd Annual Meteoritical Society Meeting
Rajmon, D., Copeland, P. , Reid, A. M., "'Pseudotachylytes' that never melted: A Thermal Story from Roter Kamm Crater, Namibia". Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIII. 2002
Rajmon, D., Copeland, P., Reid, A.M., Lavigne,J-F., "Temperature of Formation of Pseudotachylytic Impact Breccias, Roter Kamm Crater, SW Namibia", Meteoritics; vol. 34, No. 4, Supp. p. A95. 1999
Rajmon, D., Hall, S. A. , Reid, A. M. , Miller, R. McG and Robertson, D. J., "Magnetic Investigations of Breccia Veins and Basement Rocks from Roter Kamm Crater and Surrounding Region, Namibia". Lunar and Planetary Science XXXV. 2004
Reimold, W. U., "Impact cratering - a review, with special reference to the economic importance of impacat structures and the southern African impact crater record". Earth, Moon, and Planets, v. 70, pp. 21–45. 1995
Reimold, W. U., Koeberl, C. and Brandt, D., "Suevite at the Roter Kamm impact crater, Namibia". Meteoritics & Planetary Science, v. 32, pp. 431–437. 1997
Reimold, W. U., Koeberl, C. and Miller, R. Mc.G., "Geochemistry of the melt rocks in the Roter Kamm impact structure, SWA/Namibia". Congress '90, 23rd Bienn. Congr., Geological Society of South Africa, Cape Town, pp. 718–723. 1990
Reimold, W. U., Koeberl, C., Brandt., "Suevite at the Roter Kamm Impact Crater, Namibia", Meteoritics; vol. 32, p. 431-7. 1997
Reimold, W. U., Miller, R. McG., "The Roter Kamm impact crater, SWA/Namibia". Proceedings Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 19th, pp. 711–732. 1989
Reimold, W. U., Miller, R. McG., Grieve, R.A.F. and Koeberl, C., "The Roter Kamm crater structure in SWA/Namibia" (abstract). Lunar and Planetary Science XIX, pp. 972–973. 1988
Reimold, W. U., Reid, A.M., Jakes, P., Zolensky, M. and Miller, R. McG., "A magnetic survey across the Roter Kamm impact crater, Namibia" (abstract). Lunar and Planetary Science XXIII, pp. 1143–1144. 1992
Storzer, D., Koeberl, C and Reimold, W U., "Age of the Roter Kamm impact crater, Namibia: A discussion based on fission track and isotopic measurements" (abstract). Meteoritics, v. 25, pp. 411–412. 1990

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Topics	Alvarez hypothesis Australite Breccia Coesite Complex crater Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary Cryptoexplosion Ejecta blanket Impact crater Impact structure Impactite Late Heavy Bombardment Lechatelierite Meteorite Moldavite Ordovician meteor event Philippinite Planar deformation features Shatter cone Shock metamorphism Shocked quartz Stishovite Suevite Tektite
Research	Ralph Belknap Baldwin Daniel Barringer Barringer Medal Edward C. T. Chao Robert S. Dietz William Kenneth Hartmann H. Jay Melosh Graham Ryder Peter H. Schultz Eugene Merle Shoemaker Earth Impact Database Impact Field Studies Group Lunar and Planetary Institute Traces of Catastrophe

Description

Gallery

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading