Confirming the impact origin of the São Miguel do Tapuio structure, northeastern Brazil

Abstract The São Miguel do Tapuio structure (SMT) is a remarkable, nearcircular feature of about 21 km diameter, centered at 5°37.6′ S, 41°23.3′ W in Piauí state, northeastern Brazil. The structure is located within the sedimentary strata of the Paleozoic–Mesozoic Parnaíba Basin and predominantly comprises sandstones of the Devonian Pimenteiras and Cabeças formations. SMT exhibits a rugged morphology, in contrast to the smoother surrounding terrain. An impact origin has been suggested for SMT since the 1980s based on indirect aspects, such as the structure's morphology with an annular outer rim, inner rings, and an elevated central area. Some of the sandstones found in the inner region were structurally deformed and recrystallized, in contrast to the undeformed equivalent strata outside the structure. A field survey conducted in 2017 yielded a few samples of sandstone and monomict sandstone breccia from near the center of the structure. Here we report the discovery of multiple shocked quartz grains with planar fractures (PFs), feather features (FFs), and planar deformation features (PDFs) in four thin sections of two samples from this central area. Universal stage measurements on all shocked quartz grains (25 grains in total; 16 with PFs, five with PDFs, and four with both PFs and PDFs) confirm that these planar microstructures occur in distinct crystallographic orientations that are indicative of shock pressures up to 20 GPa. Our investigations, thus, have confirmed the impact origin of the SMT. It represents the ninth confirmed impact structure in Brazil and, at 21 km diameter, is the second largest of its kind in South America.