United States Meteorite Impact Craters
Middlesboro CRATER, Kentucky
Middlesboro Crater - The Middlesboro, Kentucky, impact crater is listed in the Earth Impact Database as an exposed, 6km structure, less than 300 million years old, and preserved in sedimentary target rock.
Evidence of Impact Origin
The impact origin of each location listed on this website has been supported by unambiguous diagnostic evidence of hypervelocity impact that has been reported in a scientific (usually peer reviewed) context. Without such evidence, a geological structure is not a confirmed impact crater. This section, which is included for each crater on this website, is not an exhaustive list of such published evidence, but is meant to demonstrate that appropriate work has been done for each listing.
Dietz, R. S., Shatter cones at the Middlesboro structure, Kentucky. Meteoritics, v. 3, pp. 27-29. 1966.
Milam, K. A., Kuchn, K., and Deane, B. (2004) "Central uplift formation at the Middlesboro Impact Structure, Kentucky, USA." Poster [#2073] 35th LPSC
- shatter cones
- planar deformation features in quartz grains
Other significant evidence: morphology, breccia, planar fractures.
Earliest Evidence-Based Proposal of Crater Origin
Englund, K. J., Roen, J. B., Origin of the Middlesboro basin, Kentucky. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 450-E, pp. E20-E22. 1963. (earliest proposal of crater origin - mentions multiple intersecting sets of planar fractures in quartz)
Bibliography and References:
(If links to articles don't work, don't give up. Try pasting the link shown into a search engine or searching for the article authors, title, or other reference information. If your research leads you to additional scientific references related to this crater, please help improve this resource by sending a note with the new citation(s) to: )
Ashley, G. H. and Glenn, L. C. (1906) Geology and mineral resources of part of the Cumberland Gap coal field, Kentucky. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 49, 239 p.
Black, D. F. B. (1964) Cryptoexplosive structure near Versailles, Kentucky, in Geological Survey Research 1964 Chapter B, U.S. Geology Survey Professional Paper 501-B, pp. B9-12.
Crawford, M. M. and Hunsberger, H. (2011) Geology of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Kentucky Geological Survey, Map and Chart 199, Series XII.
Dietz, R. S. (1966) Shatter cones at the Middlesboro structure, Kentucky. Meteoritics, volume. 3, issue 1, pp. 27-29. DOI: 10.1111/j.1945-5100.1966.tb00350.x
or
Englund, K. J., Roen, J. B., and DeLaney, A. O. (1964) Geology of the Middlesboro north quadrangle, Kentucky. U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-300, scale 1:24,000.
Englund, K. J. (1964) Geology of the Middlesboro south quadrangle, Tennessee-Kentucky-Virginia. U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-301, scale 1:24,000.
or
Englund, K. J., Roen, J. B. (1963) Origin of the Middlesboro basin, Kentucky. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 450-E, pp. E20-E22.
Grieve, R. A. F. (1982) The record of impact on Earth: Implications for a major Cretaceous/Tertiary impact event. Geological Society of America, Special Paper 190, pp. 25-37.
Hower, J. C., Greb, S. F., Kuehn, K. W., and Eble, C. F. (2009) Did the Middlesboro, Kentucky, bolide impact event influence coal rank? International Journal of Coal Geology, volume 79, issue 3, pp. 92-96. doi:10.1016/j.coal.2009.05.003
Kortenkamp, S. (2004) Impact at Cumberland Gap:Where Natural and National History Collide, PSI Newsletter, Planetary Science Institute, Volume 5, No. 2, pp 1-2.
https://www.psi.edu/sites/default/files/imported/news/newsletter/summer04/Summer04.pdf
Milam, K. A. (1998) Mapping, modeling, and geomorphology of the Middlesboro impact structure, Middlesboro, Kentucky (abstract), Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, volume 30, page 51.
no link found
Milam, K. A. and Kuehn, K. W. (1999) Middlesboro, KY: Further evidence for an impact origin (abstract), 1999 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting - Denver, Colorado. Abstracts with Programs, volume 31, no. 7, p. 124.
no link found
Milam, K.A., and Kuehn, K.W. (2002). The Middlesboro Impact Structure and Regional Geology of the Pine Mountain Thrust Sheet, pp. 57-73 in F.L. Ettensohn and M.L. Smath (eds.), Guidebook for Geology Field Trips in Kentucky and Adjacent Areas: 2002 Joint Meeting of the North-Central Section and Southeastern Section of the Geological Society of America Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky.
no link found
Milam, K. A. and Kuehn, K. K. (2002) Shocked conglomerates from the Middlesboro impact structure (abstract), Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 34, no. 2, p. 9.
Milam, K. A. and Kenneth W. Kuehn, K. W. (2003) Regional Geology and the Middlesboro Impact Structure, in Geologic Impacts on the History and Development of Middlesboro, Kentucky; Kentucky Society of Professional Geologists, 2003 Annual Field Conference guidebook, pp. 30-42.
Milam, K.A. and Kuehn, K.W. (2005) The Middlesboro Impact Structure. In Field Guide to the Middlesboro and Flynn Creek Impact Structures, Milam, K.A., Evenick, J., and Deane, B. (eds.), pp. 9-21. Impact Field Studies Group in association with the 69th Annual Meteoritical Society Meeting, September 16-18, Gatlinburg, TN, 46p.
Milam, K. A., Kuehn K., and Deane, B. (2004). Central Uplift Formation at the Middlesboro Impact Structure, Kentucky, USA (abstract). Abstracts of the 35th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
Rice, C. L. and Ping, R.G. (1989) Geologic map of the Middlesboro North quadrangle, Bell County, Kentucky, U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-1663
Rich, J. L. (1933) Physiography and structure at Cumberland Gap, Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 44, no. 6, p. 1219-1236. doi: 10.1130/GSAB-44-1219
Seeger, C. R. (1970) Geophysical investigations of the Versailles cryptoexplosion structure and the Middlesboro basin cryptoexplosion structure, Kentucky (abstract). Abstracts of the 51st annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, EOS, volume 51, issue 4, p. 342. DOI:10.1029/EO051i004p00259
Steinemann, C. F., (1980) A gravity study of the Middlesboro cryptoexplosive structure. Thesis, University of Kentucky.
no link found
Milam, K. A. and Kenneth W. Kuehn, K. W. (2003) Regional Geology and the Middlesboro Impact Structure, in Geologic Impacts on the History and Development of Middlesboro, Kentucky; Kentucky Society of Professional Geologists, 2003 Annual Field Conference guidebook, pp. 30-42.