Comment on Nasir et al. The Mahout Structure in the Central Desert of Oman: A Possible Simple Impact Crater. Geosciences 2023, 13, 363

A possible impact crater at Mahout in Oman was recently proposed by Nasir et al. (2023 [1]). They alleged that “crater” morphology, shatter cones, shock metamorphic evidence in quartz, plagioclase, and calcite, as well as initial geochemical information and geophysical data supported this proposal....

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Bibliographic Details
Published inGeosciences (Basel) Vol. 14; no. 4; p. 105
Main Author Reimold, Wolf Uwe
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.04.2024
Subjects
Calcite
Craters
Geological structures
Geophysical data
Identification
Impact analysis
impact structure
Mahout structure
Plagioclase
planar deformation features
Quartz
recognition criteria
Shatter cones
shock metamorphism
Stratigraphy
Oman
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Summary:A possible impact crater at Mahout in Oman was recently proposed by Nasir et al. (2023 [1]). They alleged that “crater” morphology, shatter cones, shock metamorphic evidence in quartz, plagioclase, and calcite, as well as initial geochemical information and geophysical data supported this proposal. Their conclusion was that “All current analyses suggest the impact origin of the Mahout structure” (p. 20 of the article). In this Comment, their evidence is critically discussed and largely refuted. It is demonstrated that the basis to consider the Mahout structure a possible impact structure is very limited and that further detailed, state-of-the-art analyses of the mesoscopic and microscopic de-formation features are required to obtain credible evidence. Beyond the discussion of the article by Nasir et al., this Comment emphasizes the general need for careful and comprehensive analysis of the geological structures that might, a priori, suggest a possible impact origin if, ultimately, a new impact structure can be successfully confirmed.
ISSN:2076-3263
2076-3263
DOI:10.3390/geosciences14040105