Fossil hailstone imprints in Mesoproterozoic (1.7 Gyr) quartzite of the Tombador Formation (Chapada Diamantina Group), Brazil
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14295/bjs.v3i2.468Keywords:
hailstone impressions, raindrop impressions, hailAbstract
Fossil pockmarks, 2.5-4 cm in diameter, 3-8 mm deep, with raised, asymmetrical borders are preserved in Mesoproterozoic quartzite representing fluvial and eolic lithofacies of the Tombador Formation (Chapada Diamantina Group) deposited 1.7 billion years ago in what is now northeastern Brazil. Indentations created by projecting 2-4 cm diameter ice pellets into moist beach sand were of the same type - with raised, asymmetrical borders and equivalent diameters and depths – strongly supporting the hypothesis that the fossil features represent impressions of paleohailstone impacts. These well-defined and well-preserved paleohailstone impressions represent the oldest known features of their type in the world, and the first records from South America.
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