BOMBARDED BRITAIN
A Search for British Impact Structures

by Richard Stratford (INSPEC, UK)

This book describes a search for geological evidence of meteorite impact structures in Britain. The statistics of impact structures indicate that Britain should have Phanerozoic impact structures up to tens of kilometres in diameter. A constant theme is the importance of atmospheric break-up of small asteroids and comets. These fragmenting bodies produce anomalously shallow craters with low rims and central peaks; three British structures of this type are identified.

Analysis of fireball statistics implies that damaging fireball explosions occur over the British Isles on a time-scale of decades. On a time-scale of millennia, however, more damage is done by Atlantic impact tsunami.


Contents:

  • Impacts and Geology:
  • A Curious Omission
  • Of Calculations and Craters
  • The Search for Impact Structures
  • The Shetland Craters
  • Midlands Geology
  • The Ashby Inlier
  • Charnwood Forest
  • The Midlands Basin — A Cometary Impact Structure?
  • The Herefordshire Domes
  • The Rochford Basin — A Digression into Essex
  • Fuller’s Earth and Bagshot Sands — A Surrey Crater?
  • Gabbro, Granite, and Grampians
  • Other Circular Structures
  • Impacts in History:
  • Small Craters, Airbursts, and Tsunami
  • Dozmary Pool and Other Craterlets
  • Levin–Bolt and Blast
  • British Atlantis?


Readership: Upper level undergraduates and post-graduate students in geology and planetary science.


“In his search for bombarded Britain, the author delivers a master class in impact and air blast processes ... I believe that Bombarded Britain is going to make an impact.”

Astronomy Now




220pp Pub. date: Jul 2004
ISBN 978-1-86094-356-0
1-86094-356-X
US$75 / £55
Copyright © 2008 Imperial College Press. All rights reserved.