title: Emplacement of cretaceous-tertiary boundary shocked quartz from chicxulub crater.
abstract: Observations on shocked quartz in Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary sediments compellingly tied to Chicxulub crater raise three problems. First, in North America shocked quartz occurs above the main K-T ejecta layer. Second, shocked quartz is more abundant west than east of Chicxulub. Third, shocked quartz reached distances requiring initial velocities up to 8 kilometers per second, corresponding to shock pressures that would produce melt, not the moderate-pressure shock lamellae observed. Shock devolatilization and the expansion of carbon dioxide and water from impacted wet carbonate, producing a warm, accelerating fireball after the initial hot fireball of silicate vapor, may explain all three problems.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Claeys
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Kieffer