BLOODY CREEK: A POSSIBLE LOW ANGLED, MULTIPLE IMPACT CRATER SITE IN SOUTHWESTERN NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA

The Bloody Creek Crater (BCC) is a 400-m-diameter elliptical impact crater located in Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, approximately 10 km south of Bridgetown. In addition to the main crater, a cluster of discontinuous, partially flooded arcuate scarps located approximately 1 km north of the BCC have also been identified as possible impact crater remnants. Geophysical surveys indicate that raised scarps border a broadly elliptical basin with depth/diameter ratios similar to those observed at the BCC. The basin is in-filled with 3.5 m of lacustrine sediment and peat. Thin-section analysis of samples collected proximal to the rim document shock metamorphic features that include kink-bands in feldspar and biotite and planar microstructures (PMs) in quartz and feldspar. The PMs consist of rare planar fractures (PFs) and possible planar deformation features (PDFs). Of these features, the PDFs are considered uniquely diagnostic of bolide-induced shock metamorphism. The elliptical nature of the BCC and associated arcuate scarps are indicative of a low angled, multiple impact event that is likely Tertiary or younger in age.