Grand Canyon landslide-dam and paleolake triggered by the Meteor Crater impact at 56 ka

Karl Karlstrom; Christopher H. Baisan; David A. Kring Kring; Richard Hereford; Christian Turney; A. Hogg; Laura M. Norman; P. O’Brien; Jonathon Palmer; T.M. Rittenour; J. Ballensky; L.J. Crossey

doi:10.1130/G53571.1

Grand Canyon landslide-dam and paleolake triggered by the Meteor Crater impact at 56 ka

Geology

By: Karl Karlstrom, Christopher H. Baisan, David A. Kring Kring, Richard Hereford, Christian Turney, A. Hogg, Laura M. Norman, P. O’Brien, Jonathon Palmer, T.M. Rittenour, J. Ballensky, and L.J. Crossey

https://doi.org/10.1130/G53571.1

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Abstract

This paper hypothesizes that the Meteor Crater impact in Arizona, USA, 56,000 years ago triggered landslides in Grand Canyon that dammed the Colorado River and formed Nankoweap paleolake. This is compatible with shock and earthquake physics for the impact that infer a M5.4 seismic event, attenuated to an effective magnitude of M3.5 at Grand Canyon. Results that support the hypothesis include radiocarbon dating of driftwood and luminescence dating of associated slack-water lake sediments that are preserved in caves up to 60 m above the modern Colorado River. Radiocarbon ages from two locations, including Stanton’s Cave, date the driftwood as 55.25 ± 2.44 ka (n = 4). Sediments associated with the driftwood gave a luminescence age of 56.00 ± 6.39 ka (n = 2). These six Grand Canyon dates, and three published ages for the Meteor Crater impact, show statistically indistinguishable results that support the hypothesis for a geologically instantaneous series of events with a mean age of 55.60 ± 1.30 ka. This work highlights the value of radiocarbon dating near the limits of the technique, integration of multiple dating methods, and seismic and landslide hazards associated with meteorite impacts in regions of extreme topography like Grand Canyon.

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Additional publication details
Publication type	Article
Publication Subtype	Journal Article
Title	Grand Canyon landslide-dam and paleolake triggered by the Meteor Crater impact at 56 ka
Series title	Geology
DOI	10.1130/G53571.1
Volume	53
Issue	10
Publication Date	July 15, 2025
Year Published	2025
Language	English
Publisher	Geological Society of America
Contributing office(s)	Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Western Geographic Science Center
Description	6 p.
First page	821
Last page	826
Country	United States
State	Arizona
Other Geospatial	Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater