Chiemgau impact LPSC 2023 Emmerting #004 crater

Comment on

MELT BEHAVIOR IN TWO IMPACTS CRATERS AT EMMERTING, GERMANY: DEFORMATION, EXPANSION, INJECTIONS, AND THE ROLE OF UNDERPRESSURE AND MUTUAL COLLISIONS OF PEBBLES. – V. Procházka


by Kord Ernstson, University of Würzburg


At this year’s LPSC 2023, there is a paper by Vaclav Procházka on mineralogical investigations of two craters of the Chiemgau impact in southeastern Germany:
https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2023/pdf/2102.pdf

It reports about impact melting of crater cobbles and about a meteorite fragment in crater Emmerting 4 (in the previous impact literature crater #004). Although these are interesting new findings presented in the poster, Procházka’s contribution does not show great scientific honesty, to say the least.

Crater #004 near Emmerting is listed by Procházka as one of several other craters and depressions as having been studied for about two decades, but a clear classification as an impact crater is denied. Only a reference to an affirmative work of 25 years ago is quoted, but extensively referred to inapplicable explanations of anthropogenic origin.

We remind Procházka that he already many years ago sought the contact to us, was with us in the area of the 60 km x 30 km large Chiemgau impact crater strewn field and discussed respective researches. He himself has published on studies at Kaltenbach crater with its impact effects.

A published seminar presentation on the Chiemgau impact was held on March 8, 2016, at the Institute of Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Mineral Resources, Charles University, Prague, on the Chiemgau impact, presented together with colleagues.

The presentation, translated from Czech may be downloaded here.

This detailed published work by Procházka on the Chiemgau impact crater strewn field (37 pages!), then known for 10 years, and its impact evidence is now simply hushed up at LPSC 2023. Not even the word Chiemgau appears in the text of his contribution.

I add:

At the LPSC alone, where now Procházka presents the #004 crater, there are seven contributions to the Chiemau impact in the years 2012 – 2020. Moreover, three contributions at the Planetary Crater Consortium meetings, also three contributions at the Meteoritical Society Meetings and two contributions at the AGU Fall Meeting can be added.

Eleven mostly peer-reviewed articles on the Chiemgau impact have been printed in scientific journals from 2006 – 2023.

Unfortunately Procházka joins the group of a few researchers from the so-called “impact community”, connected with the Earth Impact Database at the Canadian University of New Brunswick under the direction of John Spray, who also keep silent about the Chiemgau impact as the currently most important Holocene impact event with well over 100 craters, all proven impact criteria, and exciting published archeological references (also see here).