A Lithostratigraphic Analysis of the Meteor Crater Ejecta Blanket: Measurements, Assigned Units, and Unit Thickness (ver. 2.0, December 2025)

Current models do not sufficiently explain target rock-projectile mixing and ejecta blanket formation for small impact craters (i.e., less than 2km diameter). For example, due to the size of Meteor Crater and the low-velocity at which materials were excavated from the transient crater, the extent of target rock-projectile mixing is expected to be minor. However, based on drilling notes from Dr. David Roddy and preliminary work done at the USGS, we found lithologic mixing is much more prevalent throughout the ejecta blanket. We have used the USGS Meteor Crater sample collection to investigate the internal stratigraphy and spatial distribution of impact-generated materials in the ejecta blanket to better understand cratering processes involving volatile-rich sedimentary target rocks.

Data presented here are the summarized results from our lithostratigraphic analysis of the continuous ejecta blanket at Meteor Crater. 'Lithostratigraphic_analysis_summary' file is our summarized results, which includes an assigned unit for each sample based on the contrasting mixtures of target rocks (from our measurements), and the overall thickness of each identified unit across the selected transects. These data are the supplementary materials associated with a manuscript that will soon be published in a peer-review journal.