Lonar Crater, India, a Meteorite Crater?

Abstract

Abstract A recent field reconnaissance by one of us (ECL) has tended to support the view that the Lonar Crater, India, is probably a Quaternary meteorite crater. This origin is suggested by the high degree of circularity, the depth to diameter ratio, the breccia of crushed rock revealed by drilling, the quaquaversal dip of the surrounding country rock, the mounds of debris lying around the crater rim, and its regional uniqueness. Although developed in the Deccan flood basalts, the crater cannot be genetically related to these traps, as they were laid down in the Cretaceous, whereas the crater is physiographically young, probably Pleistocene. Cryptovolcanic phenomena (steam explosion, diatreme action, etc.), caldera subsidence and solution collapse cannot adequately account for this depression.