Australasian microtektites in the South China Sea and the West Philippine Sea: Implications for age, size, and location of the impact crater

Abstract

Microtektites from two deep-sea cores in the South China Sea and the West Philippine Sea are identified as belonging to the Australasian tektite strewn field based on the morphology, chronostratigraphic occurrence, and geographical location of these microtektites. The higher concentrations of microtektites (<1000/cm2) in the marginal seas of the western Pacific, with the peak concentration in the South China Sea, support the hypothesis of a large impact crater in Indochina. These two new occurrences lead to a more precise dating of the impact event at 793 ka, whereas the size of the Australasian source crater on the Indochina Peninsula is estimated to be 90-116 km.