Wilkes Land Crater - Wilkes Land Anomaly

Wilkes Land Anomaly

A giant impact crater beneath the Wilkes Land ice sheet was first proposed by R.A. Schmidt in 1962 on the basis of the seismic and gravity discovery of the feature made by the U.S. Victoria Land Traverse in 1959–60 (VLT), and the data provided to Schmidt by J.G. Weihaupt, geophysicist of the VLT (Geophysical Studies in Victoria Land, Antarctica, Report No. 1, Geophysical and Polar Research Center, University of Wisconsin, 1–123). Schmidt further considered the possibility that it might be the elusive source of tektites from the Australasian strewnfield.

The hypothesis was detailed in a paper by J. G. Weihaupt in 1976. Evidence cited included a large negative gravity anomaly coincident with a subglacial topographic depression 243 km across and having a minimum depth of 848 m.

The claims were challenged by C.R. Bentley in 1979. On the basis of a paper by J.G. Weihaupt et al., Bentley's challenge was proven to be incorrect, and the Earth Impact Database (Rajmon 2011) has now reclassified the Wilkes Land Anomaly from a "possible impact crater" to a "probable impact crater," on the basis of Weihaupt et al.'s 2010 publication. Several other potential impact crater sites have now been proposed by other investigators in the Ross Sea, West Antarctica, and the Weddell Sea.