Plantary Sciences Department -- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory

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Dr. David A. Kring


Director, UA Meteorite Recovery Program
Director, UA-NASA Space Imagery Center
Past-Chair, Planetary Geology Division, Geological Society of America

With LPL since: 1988

Author of Meteorites and Their Properties

Author of Desert Heat - Volcanic Fire: The Geologic History of the Tucson Mountains and Southern Arizona

Learn more about Arizona Meteorites!

Laboratories:
* Laboratory for Extraterrestrial Sample Analysis
* Laboratory for Impact Cratering Studies
* Clean Room and Tunnel: A Processing Facility for Extraterrestrial Samples
* Space Imagery Center

Current Projects:
* The Chicxulub impact event and the mass extinction at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary
* The Chicxulub Scientific Drilling Project, International Continental Drilling Program
* The environmental consequences of impact cratering processes
* Martian meteorites and implications for the geologic evolution of Mars
* Collisional evolution of ordinary chondrite parent bodies and the nature of asteroid regoliths
* Impact-generated hydrothermal systems and implications for the origin and evolution of life
* Was there a lunar cataclysm? The Impact-Origin of Life Hypothesis.
* Meteoritic evidence for the origin and evolution of the solar nebula

Current LPL and Geoscience PhD Students:
*Oleg Abramov
*Jade Bond

Current Post-docs:
*Andrea Patzer
*Lukas Zurcher

Classes taught:
* ASTRO 599/PTYS 699 Origins of Stars and Planetary Systems
* NATS 101 Planet Earth: Evolution of a Habitable World
* PTYS 195 Bombarding Earth: The Sources & Hazards of Impacting Asteroids & Comets
* PTYS 209 Exploration and Discovery in Planetary Science
* PTYS 594a Planetary Geology Field Studies (Field Trip)
* PTYS 599/699 Volcanology
* PTYS/Geos 411/511 Geology of the Solar System

Selected Memberships/Committee Positions:
* Chair, Eugene Shoemaker Impact Crater Award Committee
* Member, Barringer Award Committee
* Chair, Barringer Family Fund for Meteorite Impact Research science advisory committee

* Geological Society of America
* American Geophysical Union
* Meteoritical Society
* Geochemical Society
* Arizona Geological Society

Spacecraft involvement:
*Mars Polar Lander



Representative references (Organized by subject):

Impact Cratering on Earth
            Chicxulub Impact Event
            Cretaceous-Tertiary (K/T) Boundary Mass Extinction Event
            Environmental Consequences of Impact Events

1991 D.A. Kring and W.V. Boynton, "Altered spherules of impact melt and associated relic glass from K/T boundary sediments in Haiti," Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 55, pp. 1737-1742.
1991 A.R. Hildebrand, G.T. Penfield, D.A. Kring, M. Pilkington, A. Camargo Z., S. Jacobsen, and W.V. Boynton, "The Chicxulub Crater: A possible Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary impact crater on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico," Geology 19, pp. 867-871.
1992 D.A. Kring and W.V. Boynton, "The petrogenesis of an augite-bearing melt rock in the Chicxulub structure and its relationship to K/T impact spherules in Haiti," Nature 358, pp. 141-144.
1993 D.A. Kring, "The Chicxulub impact event and possible causes of K/T boundary extinctions," in Proceedings of the First Annual Symposium of Fossils of Arizona, D. Boaz and M. Dornan (eds.), Mesa Southwest Museum and the Southwest Paleontological Society, Mesa, pp. 63-79.
1993 D.A. Kring and W.V. Boynton, "K/T melt glasses," Nature 363, pp. 503-504.
1994 D.A. Kring, A.R. Hildebrand, and W.V. Boynton, "Provenance of mineral phases in the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary sediments exposed on the southern peninsula of Haiti," Earth Planet. Sci. Letters 128, pp. 629-641.
1995 D.A. Kring, "The dimensions of the Chicxulub impact crater and impact melt sheet," J. Geophys. Res. 100, pp. 16,979-16,986.
1996 D.A. Kring, H.J. Melosh, and D.M. Hunten, "Impact-induced perturbations of atmospheric sulfur," Earth Planet. Sci. Letters 140, pp. 201-212.
1997 D.A. Kring, “Air blast produced by the Meteor Crater impact event and a reconstruction of the affected environment,” Meteoritics and Planetary Science 32, pp. 517-530.
1997 T.D. Swindle and D.A. Kring, “Implications of small comets for the noble gas inventories of Earth and Mars,” Geophys. Res. Lett. 24, pp. 3113-3116.
1998 E. Pierazzo, D.A. Kring, and H.J. Melosh, “Hydrocode simulation of the Chicxulub impact event and the production of climatically active gases,” J. Geophys. Res. 103, pp. 28607-28626.
2000 D.A. Kring, “Impact events and their effect on the origin, evolution, and distribution of life,” GSA Today 10, no. 8, pp. 1-7.
2002 D.A. Kring and D.D. Durda, “Trajectories and distribution of material ejected fro the Chicxulub impact crater: Implications for post-impact widlfires,” J. Geophysical Res. 107(E6), 10.1029/2001JE001532.
2002 D.A. Kring, "Reevaluating the impact cratering kill curve," Meteoritics and Planetary Science 37, 1648-1649.
2003 D.A. Kring, "Environmental consequences of impact cratering events as a function of ambient conditions on Earth," Astrobiology 3(1), pp. 133-152. Invited paper.
2004 D.A. Kring, L. Zurcher, F. Hrz, and J. Urrutia Fucugauchi, "Impact Lithologies and Their Emplacement in the Chicxulub Impact Crater: Initial Results from the Chicxulub Scientific Drilling Project, Yaxcopoil, Mexico," Meteoritics and Planetary Science 39, 879-897.
2004 L. Zurcher and D.A. Kring, "Post-impact hydrothermal alteration in the Yaxcopoil-1 hole, Chicxulub impact structure, Mexico," Meteoritics and Planetary Science 39, 1199-1221.
2004 A. Gelinas, D.A. Kring, L. Zurcher, and J. Urrutia Fucugauchi, O. Morton, and R.J. Walker "Osmium isotope constraints on the proportion of bolide component in Chicxulub impact melts," Meteoritics and Planetary Science 39, 1003-1008.
2004 D.D. Durda and D.A. Kring, "Ignition threshold for impact-generated fires," J. Geophysical Research 109, E08004, doi: 10.1029/2004JE002279.
2005 L. Zurcher, D.A. Kring, D. Dettman, and M. Rollog, "Stable isotope record of post-impact fluid activity in the Yaxcopoil-1 borehole, Chicxulub impact structure, Mexico," In Large Meteorite Impacts and Planetary Evolution III, (T. Kenkmann et al., eds.), Geological Society of America Special Paper 384, 323-338.
2005 D.A. Kring, "Hypervelocity collisions into continental crust composed of sediments and an underlying crystalline basement: Comparing the Ries (~24 km) and Chicxulub (~180 km) impact craters," Chemie der Erde 65, 1-46. Invited paper.
2005 J.V. Bailey, A.S. Cohen, and D.A. Kring, "Lacustrine fossil preservation in acidic environments: Implications of experimental and field studies for the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary acid rain trauma," Palaios, in press.


Impact Cataclysm 3.9-4.0 Billion Years Ago?
2000 B.A. Cohen, T.D. Swindle, and D.A. Kring, “Lunar meteorites support the lunar cataclysm hypothesis,” Science 290, pp. 1754-1756.
2002 D.A. Kring and B.A. Cohen, “Cataclysmic bombardment throughout the inner solar system 3.9-4.0 Ga, J. Geophys. Res. 107(E2), pp. 4-1 to 4-6, 10.1029/2001JE001529.
2002 I.J. Daubar, D.A. Kring, T.D. Swindle, and A.J.T. Jull, "Northwest Africa 482: A crystalline impact melt breccia from the lunar highlands," Meteoritics and Planetary Science 37, pp. 1797-1813, 2002.
2003 D.A. Kring, "Environmental consequences of impact cratering events as a function of ambient conditions on Earth," Astrobiology 3(1), pp. 133-152, 2003. Invited paper.
2004 H. Campins, T.D. Swindle, and D.A. Kring, "Evaluating comets as a source of Earth's water," in Origins: Genesis, Evolution and Diversity of Life, J. Seckbach (ed.), Kluwer Academic Publishers. Invited paper.


Impact Cratering on Earth
            Miscellaneous Cratering Events
1992 U.B. Marvin and D.A. Kring, "Authentication controversies and impactite petrography of the New Quebec Crater," Meteoritics 27, pp. 585-595.
1999 J.A. Grier, T.D. Swindle, D.A. Kring, and H.J. Melosh, “40Ar-39Ar analyses of samples from the Gardnos impact structure, Norway,” Meteoritics and Planetary Science 34, pp. 803-807.


Geologic Evolution of Asteroids
1996 D.A. Kring, T.D. Swindle, D.T. Britt, and J.A. Grier, "Cat Mountain: A meteoritic sample of an impact-melted asteroid regolith," J. Geophys. Res. 101, pp. 29,353-29,371.
1998 T.D. Swindle, D.A. Kring, M.K. Burkland, D.H. Hill, and W.V. Boynton, "Noble gases, bulk chemistry, and petrography of olivine-rich achondrites Eagles Nest and LEW 88763: Comparison to brachinites," Meteoritics and Planetary Science 33, pp. 31-48.
1999 D.A. Kring, D.H. Hill, J.D. Gleason, D.T. Britt, G.J. Consomagno, M. Farmer, S. Wilson, and R. Haag, “Portales Valley: A meteoritic sample of the brecciated and metal-veined floor of an impact crater on an H-chondrite asteroid,” Meteoritics and Planetary Science 34, pp. 663-669.
2001 D.A. Kring, A.J.T. Jull, L.R. McHargue, P.A. Bland, D.H. Hill, and F.J. Berry, “Gold Basin meteorite strewn field, Mojave Desert, northwestern Arizona: Relic of a small Late Pleistocene impact event,” Meteoritics and Planetary Science 36, pp. 1057-1066.
2004 J.A. Grier, D.A. Kring, T.D. Swindle, A.S. Rivkin, B.A. Cohen, and D.T. Britt, "Analyses of the chondritic meteorite Orvinio (H6): Further insight into the origins and evolution of shocked H-chondrite material," Meteoritics and Planetary Science 39, 1475-1493.


Mars Exploration
1996 D.A. Kring (Chair), J.S. Schweitzer, C. Meyer, J.I. Trombka, F. Freund, T. Economou, A.S. Yen, S.S. Kim, A.H. Treiman, D. Blake, and C.M. Lisse, “Precise chemical analyses of planetary surfaces,” in Planetary Surfaces Instrument Workshop, C. Meyer, A.H. Treiman, and T. Kostiuk (eds.), LPI Technical Report 95-05, pp. 5-19.
1997 J.D. Gleason, D.A. Kring, D.H. Hill, and W.V. Boynton, “Petrography and bulk chemistry of Martian orthopyroxenite ALH84001: Implications for the origin of secondary carbonates,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 61, pp. 3503-3512.
1997 J.D. Gleason, D.A. Kring, D.H. Hill, and W.V. Boynton, "Petrography and bulk chemistry of Martian lherzolite LEW88516," Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 61, pp. 4007-4014.
1998 D.A. Kring, T.D. Swindle, J.D. Gleason, and J.A. Grier, “Formation and relative ages of maskelynite and carbonate in ALH84001,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 62, pp. 2155-2166.
1998 K. Righter, R.L. Hervig, and D.A. Kring, “Accretion and core formation in Mars: Mo contents of melt inclusion glasses in three SNC meteorites,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 62, pp. 2167-2177.
2001 W.V. Boynton, S.H. Bailey, D.K. Hamara, M.S. Williams, R.C. Bode, M.R. Fitzgibbon, W.J. Ko, M.G. Ward, K.R. Shridhar, J.A. Blanchard, R.D. Lorenz, R.D. May, D.A. Paige, A.V. Pathare, D.A. Kring, L.A. Leshin, D.W. Ming, A.P. Zent, D.C. Golden, K.E. Kerry, H.V. Lauer Jr., and R.C. Quinn, “Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer: Part of the Mars Volatile and Climate Surveyor integrated payload,” J. Geophys. Res. 106, pp. 17683-17698.
2003 D.A. Kring. J.D. Gleason, T.D. Swindle, K. Nishiizumi, M.W. Caffee, D.H. Hill, A.J.T. Jull, and W.V. Boynton, "Composition of the first bulk melt sample from a volcanic region of Mars: Queen Alexandra Range 94201," Meteoritics and Planetary Science 38, 1833-1848.


Origin and Evolution of the Solar Nebula
1988 D.A. Kring, The Petrology of Meteoritic Chondrules: Evidence for Fluctuating Conditions in the Solar Nebula, Harvard University, Cambridge, 346 pp.
1991 D.A. Kring, "High temperature rims around chondrules in primitive chondrites: Evidence for fluctuating conditions in the solar nebula," Earth Planet. Sci. Letters 105, pp. 65-80.
1995 A. Ruzicka, D.A. Kring, D.H. Hill, W.V. Boynton, R.N. Clayton, and T.K. Mayeda, "Silica-rich orthopyroxenite in the Bovedy chondrite," Meteoritics 30, pp. 57-70.
1996 L.L. Hood and D.A. Kring. “Models for multiple heating mechanisms,” in Chondrules and the Protoplanetary Disk, R.H. Hewins, R.H. Jones, and E.R.D. Scott (eds.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 265-276.


Impact-generated Hydrothermal Systems
2004 L. Zurcher and D.A. Kring, "Post-impact hydrothermal alteration in the Yaxcopoil-1 hole, Chicxulub impact structure, Mexico," Meteoritics and Planetary Science 39, 1199-1221.
2004 O. Abramov and D.A. Kring, "Numerical modeling of an impact-induced hydrothermal system at the Sudbury crater," Journal of Geophysical Research 109, E10007, doi: 10.1029/2003JE002213.
2005 L. Zurcher, D.A. Kring, D. Dettman, and M. Rollog, "Stable isotope record of post-impact fluid activity in the Yaxcopoil-1 borehole, Chicxulub impact structure, Mexico," In Large Meteorite Impacts and Planetary Evolution III, (T. Kenkmann et al., eds.), Geological Society of America Special Paper 384, 323-338.


Triassic/Jurassic Boundary
2004 P.D. Ward, G.H. Garrison, J.W. Haggart, D.A. Kring, and M.J. Beattie, "Isotopic evidence bearing on the Late Triassic extinction events, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, and implications for the duration and cause of the Triassic/Jurassic mass extinction," Earth and Planetary Science Letters 224, 589-600.


Educational and Public Outreach Publications
1992 D.A. Kring, Meteorites and Their Properties, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, 32 pp. Second Edition published in 1998.
1996 D.A. Kring and A.M. Domitrovic, “Mines and Minerals in the Tucson Mountains,” Sonorensis 16(2), pp. 10-11.
1999 D.A. Kring, “Calamity at Meteor Crater,” Sky and Telescope 98(5), pp. 48-53.
2000 D.A. Kring and G. Consolmagno, “Meteorite Hunting,” in Cosmic Pinball, C. Sumners and C. Allen (eds.), McGraw-Hill Publishers, New York, pp. 81-98.
2000 D.A. Kring, “Rocks from the Moon and Mars,” in Cosmic Pinball, C. Sumners and C. Allen (eds.), McGraw-Hill Publishers, New York, pp. 99-118.
2000 D.A. Kring and D.D. Durda, “Doomsday Asteroids,” in Cosmic Pinball, C. Sumners and C. Allen (eds.), McGraw-Hill Publishers, New York, pp. 149-168.
2000 D.A. Kring, “The Threat of Future Impacts on Earth,” in Cosmic Pinball, C. Sumners and C. Allen (eds.), McGraw-Hill Publishers, New York, pp. 169-178.
2003 D.A. Kring, "Meteor Crater & An Asteroid's Impact on Floral Ecosystems," with sidebar "Megafauna & Dietary Flora," Wildflower 19(4), pp. 16-17 and 29.
2003 D.A. Kring and D.D. Durda, "The Day the World Burned," Scientific American 289(6), pp. 98-105.

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