A Prominent Iron Silicides Strewn Field and Its Relation to the Bronze Age/Iron Age Chiemgau Meteorite Impact Event (Germany)

Kord Ernstson; Frank Bauer; Michael Hiltl

doi:doi:10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14

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A Prominent Iron Silicides Strewn Field and Its Relation to the Bronze Age/Iron Age Chiemgau Meteorite Impact Event (Germany)

Kord Ernstson, Frank Bauer, Michael Hiltl

Published in Earth Sciences (Volume 12, Issue 1)

Received: 22 January 2023 Accepted: 8 February 2023 Published: 24 February 2023

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Abstract

About 20 years ago, amateur archeologists and local history researchers discovered the iron silicide (FESI) strewn field measuring about 60 km x 30 km in the districts of the Chiemgau and the Inn-Salzach region in southeast Germany. They evidenced the connection between the FESi distribution and the pervasive rim wall craters and suggested a meteorite impact event, now widely recognized under the name of the Chiemgau impact. Widespread in the strewn field and in individual finds far beyond it they recovered and documented thousands of FESI particles of millimeter to centimeter size with a total mass of more than 2 kg, whereby a large lump of 8 kg stands out as a single find. The find layer is largely uniformly located at a depth of 30 - 40 cm in a glacial loose sediment soil. Microprobe, SEM-EDS, TEM and EBSD analyses determined as main minerals gupeiite and xifengite, subordinately hapkeite, naquite and linzhite. Besides the main elements Fe and Si of the matrix, more than 30 other chemical elements have been addressed so far, including uranium and various REE. Incorporated into the FESI matrix are the carbide minerals moissanite and titanium carbide as superpure crystals, and khamrabaevite, zirconium carbide, and uranium carbide, furthermore CAIs. SEM images indicate shock metamorphism. The present article describes the discovery history of this worldwide unique FESI occurrence with the exact find situations, as well as the very varied morphologies of the find particles with the macroscopically recognizable components and SEM EDS examples.

Published in	Earth Sciences (Volume 12, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14
Page(s)	26-40
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Iron Silicides, Gupeiite, Xifengite, Hapkeite, Meteorites, Chiemgau Meteorite Impact Event, Germany

References

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Kord Ernstson, Frank Bauer, Michael Hiltl. (2023). A Prominent Iron Silicides Strewn Field and Its Relation to the Bronze Age/Iron Age Chiemgau Meteorite Impact Event (Germany). Earth Sciences, 12(1), 26-40. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14

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Kord Ernstson; Frank Bauer; Michael Hiltl. A Prominent Iron Silicides Strewn Field and Its Relation to the Bronze Age/Iron Age Chiemgau Meteorite Impact Event (Germany). Earth Sci. 2023, 12(1), 26-40. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14

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Kord Ernstson, Frank Bauer, Michael Hiltl. A Prominent Iron Silicides Strewn Field and Its Relation to the Bronze Age/Iron Age Chiemgau Meteorite Impact Event (Germany). Earth Sci. 2023;12(1):26-40. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14

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@article{10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14,
  author = {Kord Ernstson and Frank Bauer and Michael Hiltl},
  title = {A Prominent Iron Silicides Strewn Field and Its Relation to the Bronze Age/Iron Age Chiemgau Meteorite Impact Event (Germany)},
  journal = {Earth Sciences},
  volume = {12},
  number = {1},
  pages = {26-40},
  doi = {10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.earth.20231201.14},
  abstract = {About 20 years ago, amateur archeologists and local history researchers discovered the iron silicide (FESI) strewn field measuring about 60 km x 30 km in the districts of the Chiemgau and the Inn-Salzach region in southeast Germany. They evidenced the connection between the FESi distribution and the pervasive rim wall craters and suggested a meteorite impact event, now widely recognized under the name of the Chiemgau impact. Widespread in the strewn field and in individual finds far beyond it they recovered and documented thousands of FESI particles of millimeter to centimeter size with a total mass of more than 2 kg, whereby a large lump of 8 kg stands out as a single find. The find layer is largely uniformly located at a depth of 30 - 40 cm in a glacial loose sediment soil. Microprobe, SEM-EDS, TEM and EBSD analyses determined as main minerals gupeiite and xifengite, subordinately hapkeite, naquite and linzhite. Besides the main elements Fe and Si of the matrix, more than 30 other chemical elements have been addressed so far, including uranium and various REE. Incorporated into the FESI matrix are the carbide minerals moissanite and titanium carbide as superpure crystals, and khamrabaevite, zirconium carbide, and uranium carbide, furthermore CAIs. SEM images indicate shock metamorphism. The present article describes the discovery history of this worldwide unique FESI occurrence with the exact find situations, as well as the very varied morphologies of the find particles with the macroscopically recognizable components and SEM EDS examples.},
 year = {2023}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Prominent Iron Silicides Strewn Field and Its Relation to the Bronze Age/Iron Age Chiemgau Meteorite Impact Event (Germany)
AU  - Kord Ernstson
AU  - Frank Bauer
AU  - Michael Hiltl
Y1  - 2023/02/24
PY  - 2023
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14
T2  - Earth Sciences
JF  - Earth Sciences
JO  - Earth Sciences
SP  - 26
EP  - 40
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-5982
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14
AB  - About 20 years ago, amateur archeologists and local history researchers discovered the iron silicide (FESI) strewn field measuring about 60 km x 30 km in the districts of the Chiemgau and the Inn-Salzach region in southeast Germany. They evidenced the connection between the FESi distribution and the pervasive rim wall craters and suggested a meteorite impact event, now widely recognized under the name of the Chiemgau impact. Widespread in the strewn field and in individual finds far beyond it they recovered and documented thousands of FESI particles of millimeter to centimeter size with a total mass of more than 2 kg, whereby a large lump of 8 kg stands out as a single find. The find layer is largely uniformly located at a depth of 30 - 40 cm in a glacial loose sediment soil. Microprobe, SEM-EDS, TEM and EBSD analyses determined as main minerals gupeiite and xifengite, subordinately hapkeite, naquite and linzhite. Besides the main elements Fe and Si of the matrix, more than 30 other chemical elements have been addressed so far, including uranium and various REE. Incorporated into the FESI matrix are the carbide minerals moissanite and titanium carbide as superpure crystals, and khamrabaevite, zirconium carbide, and uranium carbide, furthermore CAIs. SEM images indicate shock metamorphism. The present article describes the discovery history of this worldwide unique FESI occurrence with the exact find situations, as well as the very varied morphologies of the find particles with the macroscopically recognizable components and SEM EDS examples.
VL  - 12
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Kord Ernstson

Faculty of Philosophy, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
Frank Bauer

Oxford Instruments GmbH Nano Science, Wiesbaden, Germany
Michael Hiltl

Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH, Oberkochen, Germany

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APA Style

Kord Ernstson, Frank Bauer, Michael Hiltl. (2023). A Prominent Iron Silicides Strewn Field and Its Relation to the Bronze Age/Iron Age Chiemgau Meteorite Impact Event (Germany). Earth Sciences, 12(1), 26-40. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14

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ACS Style

Kord Ernstson; Frank Bauer; Michael Hiltl. A Prominent Iron Silicides Strewn Field and Its Relation to the Bronze Age/Iron Age Chiemgau Meteorite Impact Event (Germany). Earth Sci. 2023, 12(1), 26-40. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14

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AMA Style

Kord Ernstson, Frank Bauer, Michael Hiltl. A Prominent Iron Silicides Strewn Field and Its Relation to the Bronze Age/Iron Age Chiemgau Meteorite Impact Event (Germany). Earth Sci. 2023;12(1):26-40. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14

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@article{10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14,
  author = {Kord Ernstson and Frank Bauer and Michael Hiltl},
  title = {A Prominent Iron Silicides Strewn Field and Its Relation to the Bronze Age/Iron Age Chiemgau Meteorite Impact Event (Germany)},
  journal = {Earth Sciences},
  volume = {12},
  number = {1},
  pages = {26-40},
  doi = {10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.earth.20231201.14},
  abstract = {About 20 years ago, amateur archeologists and local history researchers discovered the iron silicide (FESI) strewn field measuring about 60 km x 30 km in the districts of the Chiemgau and the Inn-Salzach region in southeast Germany. They evidenced the connection between the FESi distribution and the pervasive rim wall craters and suggested a meteorite impact event, now widely recognized under the name of the Chiemgau impact. Widespread in the strewn field and in individual finds far beyond it they recovered and documented thousands of FESI particles of millimeter to centimeter size with a total mass of more than 2 kg, whereby a large lump of 8 kg stands out as a single find. The find layer is largely uniformly located at a depth of 30 - 40 cm in a glacial loose sediment soil. Microprobe, SEM-EDS, TEM and EBSD analyses determined as main minerals gupeiite and xifengite, subordinately hapkeite, naquite and linzhite. Besides the main elements Fe and Si of the matrix, more than 30 other chemical elements have been addressed so far, including uranium and various REE. Incorporated into the FESI matrix are the carbide minerals moissanite and titanium carbide as superpure crystals, and khamrabaevite, zirconium carbide, and uranium carbide, furthermore CAIs. SEM images indicate shock metamorphism. The present article describes the discovery history of this worldwide unique FESI occurrence with the exact find situations, as well as the very varied morphologies of the find particles with the macroscopically recognizable components and SEM EDS examples.},
 year = {2023}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Prominent Iron Silicides Strewn Field and Its Relation to the Bronze Age/Iron Age Chiemgau Meteorite Impact Event (Germany)
AU  - Kord Ernstson
AU  - Frank Bauer
AU  - Michael Hiltl
Y1  - 2023/02/24
PY  - 2023
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14
T2  - Earth Sciences
JF  - Earth Sciences
JO  - Earth Sciences
SP  - 26
EP  - 40
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-5982
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20231201.14
AB  - About 20 years ago, amateur archeologists and local history researchers discovered the iron silicide (FESI) strewn field measuring about 60 km x 30 km in the districts of the Chiemgau and the Inn-Salzach region in southeast Germany. They evidenced the connection between the FESi distribution and the pervasive rim wall craters and suggested a meteorite impact event, now widely recognized under the name of the Chiemgau impact. Widespread in the strewn field and in individual finds far beyond it they recovered and documented thousands of FESI particles of millimeter to centimeter size with a total mass of more than 2 kg, whereby a large lump of 8 kg stands out as a single find. The find layer is largely uniformly located at a depth of 30 - 40 cm in a glacial loose sediment soil. Microprobe, SEM-EDS, TEM and EBSD analyses determined as main minerals gupeiite and xifengite, subordinately hapkeite, naquite and linzhite. Besides the main elements Fe and Si of the matrix, more than 30 other chemical elements have been addressed so far, including uranium and various REE. Incorporated into the FESI matrix are the carbide minerals moissanite and titanium carbide as superpure crystals, and khamrabaevite, zirconium carbide, and uranium carbide, furthermore CAIs. SEM images indicate shock metamorphism. The present article describes the discovery history of this worldwide unique FESI occurrence with the exact find situations, as well as the very varied morphologies of the find particles with the macroscopically recognizable components and SEM EDS examples.
VL  - 12
IS  - 1
ER  -

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