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The impact record of West Africa : Confirmed impact structures and potential impact sites

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Bibliographic Details
Title: The impact record of West Africa : Confirmed impact structures and potential impact sites
Authors: Niang, C. A. B., /Baratoux, David, Rochette, P., Quesnel, Y., Reimold, W. U.
Publication Year: 2025
Collection: IRD (Institute de recherche pour le développement): Horizon
Subject Terms: West African Craton, Impact craters, Impact structures, Recognition criteria, Mineralization potential
Subject Geographic: AFRIQUE DE L'OUEST
Description: More than 210 impact structures have been confirmed on Earth. They represent, however, only a small fraction of the actual record of collisions between the Earth and extraterrestrial bodies, as most of the terrestrial impact cratering record has been erased by tectonic, magmatic, erosion, and sedimentary burial processes. The present distribution of known impact structures on continental areas is strongly heterogeneous. Only 20 impact structures have been confirmed in Africa (i.e., similar to 1/10 of the global record), for a surface area that represents ca. 1/4 of the area of non-glaciated continents and includes several large Archean and Paleoproterozoic terranes. The deficit is even more pronounced for West Africa, with only three confirmed impact structures known at present, in a terrane of more than 5 million km(2). This region, 80 % of which comprises Archean and Paleoproterozoic terranes, represents 1/5 of the size of the African continent. Potential impact structures in West Africa have been regularly proposed, mainly based on remote sensing studies. However, restricted accessibility, the regionally seriously strained security situation, insufficient financial resources for academic research, and a relatively small number of West African geologists trained in impact science are the main reasons for the rather slow exploration of potential impact structures in the field. Here, we review the current knowledge about the confirmed, already discarded, and potential impact structures in West Africa, in order to provide a comprehensive entry point into the literature and encourage local geologists to investigate potential impact structures in the field. We also emphasize the possible connections between impact structures and mineralization of economic interest, which should be taken note of by exploration geologists and the mining companies operating in West Africa.
Document Type: text
Language: English
Relation: https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010093512; fdi:010093512; Niang C. A. B., Baratoux David, Rochette P., Quesnel Y., Reimold W. U. The impact record of West Africa : Confirmed impact structures and potential impact sites. 2025, 228, p. 105627 [23 p.]
Availability: https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010093512
Accession Number: edsbas.6D6EC58F
Database: BASE
Description
Abstract:More than 210 impact structures have been confirmed on Earth. They represent, however, only a small fraction of the actual record of collisions between the Earth and extraterrestrial bodies, as most of the terrestrial impact cratering record has been erased by tectonic, magmatic, erosion, and sedimentary burial processes. The present distribution of known impact structures on continental areas is strongly heterogeneous. Only 20 impact structures have been confirmed in Africa (i.e., similar to 1/10 of the global record), for a surface area that represents ca. 1/4 of the area of non-glaciated continents and includes several large Archean and Paleoproterozoic terranes. The deficit is even more pronounced for West Africa, with only three confirmed impact structures known at present, in a terrane of more than 5 million km(2). This region, 80 % of which comprises Archean and Paleoproterozoic terranes, represents 1/5 of the size of the African continent. Potential impact structures in West Africa have been regularly proposed, mainly based on remote sensing studies. However, restricted accessibility, the regionally seriously strained security situation, insufficient financial resources for academic research, and a relatively small number of West African geologists trained in impact science are the main reasons for the rather slow exploration of potential impact structures in the field. Here, we review the current knowledge about the confirmed, already discarded, and potential impact structures in West Africa, in order to provide a comprehensive entry point into the literature and encourage local geologists to investigate potential impact structures in the field. We also emphasize the possible connections between impact structures and mineralization of economic interest, which should be taken note of by exploration geologists and the mining companies operating in West Africa.