THE KAMENETSK IMPACT STRUKTURE – A NEW METEORITE-IMPACT CRATER IN THE UKRAINIAN SHIELD

The Kamenetsk impact structure is a deeply eroded simple bowl-shaped crater located on the southern slope of the Ukrainian Shield in the basin of the Ingul River. Determination of characteristic features of shock metamorphism in the rocks of the Kamenetsk structure proves its impact origin and refutes the idea of its endogenous nature.  Kamenetsk impact structure is an isometric depression in the surface of the crystalline basement 1.0-1.2 km in diameter and 130 m deep. The structure is eroded, and only the lower part of lithic breccias up to 60 m thick was preserved to the recent time. The upper part of crater-fill rocks and post-crater sediments are completely cut. Erosion of the crater and surrounding area to the depth more 200 m was preceded to the deposition of the overlying sediments. The time of the Kamenetsk structure formation is determined within a wide interval from the age of its crystalline target, 2000-2100 Ma, to the Late Miocene age of overlying sediments. A deep erosion of the crater bear witness about its ancient, probably, Paleozoic age. The Kamenetsk crater is the eighth impact structure in the Ukrainian Shield.