Formation of Australasian tektites from gravity and magnetic indicators

Abstract The parent impact crater of Australasian tektites has not been discovered so far, but a consensus has been accepted on its location in a wider area of Indochina. Recently, an alternative location has been suggested in the Badain Jaran Desert (BJD), Northwest China. Employing gravity and magnetic data derived from satellites, possible presence of an impact structure in BJD is investigated. The gravity parameters include the free air gravity disturbance, its vertical derivative component and total horizontal gradient (THG), strike alignment (SA), and Bouguer anomaly with its first vertical derivative and tilt angle. The magnetic parameters include the anomalous total magnetic field (TMF), its reduced to the pole transformation (RTP), the first vertical derivative of the TMF vertical component (B zz ), tilt angle (TA), and logistic total horizontal gradient (LTHG). Both the gravity and magnetic indicators support the presence of the impact structure. Gravity parameters display typical annular gravity highs circumscribing a gravity low. SA analysis reveals preferred parallel directions, implying the susceptibility of special zones to the impact shock waves, both within and beyond the rim. TMF reveals a large magnetic anomaly in the southern part of the proposed crater, and RTP displaces and restricts it further into the rim. B zz weakens the long wavelength anomalies, amplifies the superficial ones, and separates them horizontally. TA and LTHG delineate the deep-seated and shallow magnetic signals related to the peak and border magnetization, respectively