Impact Stratigraphy

Book excerpt: This book provides a general introduction to impact stratigraphy, with emphasis on the recognition of distal impact ejecta in the field, by focusing on the impactoclastic layers of the Umbria-Marche sequence in Central Italy, with an almost perfect stratigraphic record over the last 200 Million years. A general introduction to impact cratering and a discussion of distal ejecta and impact layers around the world is followed by a detailed description of the record of the impact of extraterrestrial bodies in sediments of the Umbria-Marche Apennines. The volume is of interest to a diverse audience in the geological and planetary sciences, ranging from (upper) undergraduate to research level. This book can also be used by students and researchers as a field guide to some of the most important Italian impact layers.