The shock metamorphism of rocks and minerals is an important consequence of hypervelocity impact events. Much remains to be understood regarding effects in accessory geochronology minerals, such as the effect of very high shock conditions on zircon (ZrSiO 4 ). This study explores the effects of shock metamorphism on zircon in crystalline, quartzofeldspathic basement rocks from the ~23–39-m.y.-old, 23-km-diameter Haughton impact structure on Devon Island, Arctic Canada. This is a valuable location for this study because the structure is very well preserved and contains materials covering a wide range of shock levels. A petrographic survey of 255 zircon grains revealed a variety of microfeatures, including fracturing, planar features, and granular texture, as well as a microporosity texture in highly shocked (level 6, 55–60 GPa) zircon grains. This survey showed that general trends exist in the proportions of grains from each shock level that display certain microscopic features, including a decrease in fractures and appearance of granular textures related to increasing shock pressures. Raman spectroscopy data from 22 zircon grains showed evidence of radiation damage, impurities, the presence of reidite, and recrystallized grains. The overall pattern with increasing shock level is that of metamict, low-crystallinity zircon in basement gneiss outside the impact structure, increased crystallinity and preservation of reidite in an intermediate-shock-level sample, and highly crystalline, annealed zircon (no reidite) in highly shocked samples otherwise composed entirely of glass. The sequence of structural and phase changes observed in this study is consistent with the findings of previous work, and our results expand the body of knowledge about the series of shock features that can be applied to other similar structures, both on Earth and other planetary bodies.

Dynamical studies of the asteroid belt reveal it to be an inadequate source of terrestrial impactors of more than a few kilometers in diameter. A more promising source for large impactors is an unstable reservoir of comets orbiting between Jupiter and Neptune. Comets 100–300 km across leak from this reservoir into potentially hazardous orbits on relatively short time scales. With a mass typically 10 3 –10 4 times that of a Chicxulub-sized impactor, the fragmentation of a giant comet yields a highly enhanced impact hazard at all scales, with a prodigious dust influx into the stratosphere over the duration of its breakup, which could be anywhere from a few thousand to a few hundred thousand years. Repeated fireball storms of a few hours' duration, occurring while the comet is fragmenting, may destroy stratospheric ozone and enhance incident ultraviolet light. These storms, as much as large impacts, may be major contributors to biological trauma. Thus, the debris from such comets has the potential to create mass extinctions by way of prolonged stress. Large impact craters are expected to occur in episodes rather than at random, and this is seen in the record of well-dated impact craters of the past 500 m.y. There is a strong correlation between these bombardment episodes and mass extinctions of marine genera.