Shatter Cones at Sierra Madera, Texas

Abstract

Shatter cones abound in the central uplift of Sierra Madera and they occur as far as 6.5 kilometers from the center. Apical angles average near 90 degrees. Whole cones and full cones represented by diversely oriented cone segments in any structural block show relatively uniform orientations of axes and a dominant direction of point. The cones predate faulting and folding in the central uplift, and, when beds are restored to horizontal, most cones point inward and upward, a pattern that supports the hypothesis of an impact origin.