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This report describes a study in which seismic profiling was used to re-interpret the origin of Upheaval Dome, Utah, a geologic structure that was originally thought to be the results of a salt diapir, but which the authors believe may be the remains of an ancient impact structure. ABSTRACT: Seismic imaging techniques applied to a reflection survey show two phases of faulting and deformation beneath Upheaval Dome, Utah. Recent work suggests Upheaval Dome may be the largest impact structure on the Colorado Plateau, having a ring syncline ~3 km in diameter. To better describe the impact deformation of a brittle layer above a viscous layer, as exists at Upheaval Dome with the underlying Paradox Salt, four institutions conducted a NASA-funded seismic reflection survey in January 1995. We obtained a 5 km section extending radially from the Dome's central depression using a 320 kg weight-drop source and a 48-channel off-end receiver spread 0.5 km long. The data show clear reflections as deep as 1.5 km. Imaging of the reflection section with velocity filtering and 3-d prestack Kirchhoff migration techniques reveals the geometries of deformed stratigraphy from the surface to the top...

Disciplines:

• Science and Technology  / Geoscience  / Oceanography