THE OBLIQUITY OF THE IMPACT EVENT AT FLYNN CREEK, TENNESSEE

The 3.8 km diameter Flynn Creek impact crater is a complex crater (with central peak and collapsed crater rim) situated in Jackson County, Tennessee. The collision of an asteroid or comet into a shallow marine setting ~382 Ma formed an oval-shaped crater that was initially suggested to have resulted from an oblique impact. We have examined the structural deformation in the central peak and crater rim and the magnitude of rim uplift to assess both the impactor trajectory and angle. Results indicate that the maximum uplift occurred in the southeastern rim and the central peak was thrust asymmetrically to the southeast. This supports the hypothesis that the impactor traveled along a (present-day) trajectory of 130-143° at an angle <5° above the pre-impact surface. The result was ejecta deposited in the so-called “butterfly pattern” that resurged into the crater from approximately ENE and WSW following impact.