Geological Survey of India

LONAR CRATER- A GEOLOGICAL AND ECOLOGICAL ENIGMA

Lonar Crater is a nearly circular, bowl-shaped crater with 1.83 km diameter and 130 m depth from crater rim to the water level in the lake at the centre of the depression. This is a unique feature located in Buldhana district of Maharashtra in the extensive Deccan Volcanic Province (DVP) and its origin has been a topic of controversy for a century and a half. Early investigators have ascribed it to some form of explosion or subsidence despite its geologic youthfulness and cessation of Deccan Volcanic activity. An impact origin has been considered in recent years based on gross morphology and youth of the structure.

View of the Lonar Lake from MTDC guest house

Sketch map of Lonar Lake and its surroundings. Spots identified as Fig 2 to 11 refer to the locations of the photographs. Contributed by Dr. M. Bodas, B. Sen & K.K.K. Nair, GSI, CR.

Geological Survey of India

Although J.E. Alexander is said to have visited this spot in 1823 and discovered it as a crater for the first time, some Sanskrit scholars (e.g. Sohani, 1978 and Goswami et. al., 2009) believe that the crater was known to mankind for thousands of years. According to them, Lord Ram along with Seeta and Laxman had visited this lake during their exile and the beauty of this lake is also echoed in classical Sanskrit poetic works including Raghuvansha of Kalidasa. As per Skanda-Purana, the name Lonar is derived from a demon, Lonasura, who lived here in the sub-terranean abode from where he used to devastate the surrounding country. He was killed by Lord Vishnu who assumed a form of a handsome person named Daityasudana. To honour Vishnus victory over the demon, Daityasudana temple was erected in centre of the town in medieval period. It is considered to be one of the finest specimens of Hindu architecture and is built in Hemadpanti style (Fig.2).

Fig.2: Daityasudan temple

The area around Lonar Lake is covered by the basaltic flows of DVP and they can be grouped under Ajanta, Chikli and Buldhana Formations. Of these, seven lava flows belonging to Chikli and Buldhana Formations are exposed along the inner slopes of the crater.

Fig. 3: A view of pahoehoe lava flow exposed along the inner slope of Lonar crater. The red inter flow horizon marks the contact between two flows and the arrow shows flow lobe contact.

These lava flows have pahoehoe (lowermost two flows) (Fig.3) and aa (the remaining five) morphology and they show low to moderate (around 5-20) quaquaversal dips (inclined radially outward) (Fig.4).
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Geological Survey of India

Fig. 4: Outwardly (away from the crater) inclined aa lava flow exposed along the inner slope of Lonar crater

This lava flow sequence is capped by several metre thick ejecta blanket (Fig. 5) comprising of angular fragments varying in size from a few mm to over a metre and composition (with or without glass) (Figs. 6 A, B and 7 A, B) embedded in finer grained rock-derived (clastic) matrix on and beyond the crater rim. Fig. 8 gives the geological sketch map of the area.

Fig. 5: A view of the ejecta blanket present on the north-northwestern side of the Lonar crater

Fig. 6A: An outcrop of ejecta near Gomukh temple. Note the large variation in rock fragment size in the ejecta

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Geological Survey of India

Fig. 6B: A close-up of the rock fragments in the ejecta near Gomukh temple

Fig. 7A: Glassy fragments in the ejecta exposed due east of Lonar crater

Fig. 7B: A large glassy fragment in the ejecta exposed due east of Lonar crater

To the scientific community, especially earth scientists, Lonar crater was always a special feature as it has been studied for more than a century and theories of its origin have taken some interesting twists and turns. Of late, this lake has been the subject of multidisciplinary studies including environmental, botanical, microbiological sciences as well as bio-technological investigations.
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Geological Survey of India

Fig. 8: Geological sketch map and section of Lonar crater and its neighborhood (Sabale and Sen, 2005)

The earliest geological account on this crater was given by W.T. Blanford (1870) who thought that this hollow owed its origin to the volcanic explosion despite total absence of everything which in general characterizes a volcano! In fact, so irrefutable was Lonars volcanic origin thought to be, that in the year 1896, the famous American geologist G.K. Gilbert rejected a meteoric origin for the Coon Mountain of Arizona and embraced volcanic origin for it. Among the other considerations, he cited the Coon Mountains similarity with the Lonar. La Touche and Christie (1912) followed Blanfords investigation, supported the volcanic origin for Lonar crater and opined that an abortive explosion or incipient saucer-like intrusion (laccolith) can explain the morphology of this crater. This idea of Lonar crater being volcanic in origin prevailed in the geological literature till mid-1960s in spite of the fact that no tangible evidence of volcanic activity from it (such as lava flows) was ever found at Lonar. In 1960, the Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) Ltd drilled 22 bore holes into the sediments under and surrounding the lake. The TISCO geologists, Nandy and Deo (1961) reported brecciated zone beneath the lake sediments. However, they continued to support the volcanic origin for the crater. The theory of Lonar crater being carved due to the impact of extra-terrestrial body was first proposed by La Fond and Dietz (1964) citing youthful morphology and presence of sub-surface breccia as the two important evidences. Although the ejecta blanket (layer of the material thrown out of the crater) around the crater was known to the geologists well before 1960s, the advancements in the understanding of process and products of impact
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Geological Survey of India

cratering and availability of necessary instrumentation led to the discoveries of impactite (impact generated rocks; Fig.9) and minerals (like maskelynite: plagioclase showing shock metamorphism) in it and in sub-surface breccia in bore-holes drilled in Lonar Lake.

Fig. 9: An outcrop of impactite- a rock produced as a result of impact. Location: east of Amber Lake

Further, the presence of paleosol below the ejecta (Fig.10) and continued failure to identify any remnant volcanogenic features and deposits that can be unequivocally attributed to the crater allowed the theory of Lonar crater being an impact generated feature gain substantial ground in the subsequent investigations (e.g., Nayak 1972, Fredricksson et al.1973; Fudali et al.1980; Ghosh and Bhaduri 2003, Osea et al, 2005).

Fig. 10: palaeosol (pre-impact soil) underlying the ejecta. Location: northwest of Lonar crater

The Geological Survey of India has registered this view to the scientific community, way back in 1974, by erecting a citation at the craters rim at Lonar PWD Rest House campus declaring it as a crater formed by hypervelocity meteorite impact (Fig.11).

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Geological Survey of India

Fig. 11: Plank put up by Geological Survey of India

However, the believers of the impact origin of Lonar crater, even today, have neither discovered a sample of the extra-terrestrial impactor that is responsible for creating such a unique feature nor are they certain about its exact nature. This constraint is reflected in the publications by Osea et al. (2005) and Son and Koeberl (2007), who admit that no clear geochemical indication of an extraterrestrial component was found in any of the samples of impact glass and breccias collected by them. The absence of clear geochemical signatures has made them suggest very low level of mixing of meteorite component in these rocks or iridium-poor impactor. Further, the knowledge about angle and direction of impact is still elusive. The large variation in estimated ages of the crater ranging from some 13,000 years (Storzer and Koebrel, 2004) to about 52,000 years (Sengupta et al. 1997) too adds to the uncertainties that surround the Lonar crater and demands further investigations. Interestingly, Lonar is not the only crater on the Earth that has seen such a change (volcanic to impact) in the hypothesis proposed to explain its origin. For example, Coon Mountain, long since renamed as Meteor or Barringer Crater, is a proven meteorite crater, and indeed the most famous and widely studied impact crater on the Earth was once thought to be of volcanic origin. Besides its mode of origin, the extreme salinity of the lake water and the extremophiles (organisms that grow in extreme environments) that populate this lake are also the unique features of Lonar Lake. Jhingran and Rao (1954) and Nandy and Deo (1961) have reported pH of 10 to 10.5 for the lake water and reported salinity of 40.78%, 31.52% and 30.87% in the years 1910, 1958 and 1960 respectively. The source for highly saline water was thought to be meteoric where the groundwater saturates with CO2 and the concentration of CO32-/HCO3- greatly exceeds Ca2+/Mg2+ enriching the water in Na+, Cl-, HCO3- and CO32-. The lake water was exploited for the manufacture of soda since fairly ancient days. In the year 2000, the salinity of the lake was however found to be about 7.9% (Malu et al, 2000). This decrease in salinity has been either due to the seepage of water from a dam constructed nearby or due to the presence of cyanobacterial mass on Lonar Lake water causing HCO3- loss. It is a cause of concern because should the same trend continue, the uniqueness of the lake may vanish in future (Surkasi et al. 2009). This
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Geological Survey of India

extreme environment of Lonar Lake harbors a wealth of micro-organisms such as alkaliphilic and halotolerant bacteria that have potential in producing extra-cellular enzymes, bio-degradable polymers, exo-polysaccharides and antibiotic like substances (Kanekar et al. 2009). In addition, presence of methanogens of diverse origin in the lake water is not only significant but also intriguing. The environmental deterioration of the Lonar crater area has also been caused by anthropogenic reasons as well as extensive plantation of Prosopis juliflora (a variety of Babul) as the plant is becoming naturalized (it is propagating itself) and is replacing the native assemblage of the crater flora. There is indeed a need for continuation of focused, well-coordinated and multidisciplinary efforts to understand the Lonar crater, an isolated but significant structure on the vast DVP. When Lonar was considered a volcanic crater, it was enigmatic; and now, when it is thought to be an impact crater, there are still mysterious aspects of it that need to be unraveled. There are also many other ecological and environmental issues that deserve further studies. In the context of Indian scientific advancements, especially with India becoming the sixth nation to send its unmanned vehicle (Chandrayaan-I) to the Moon, it is time to learn all that we can, about the mechanisms and products of impact cratering and its environs; as opportunities to see similar structures on the Moon from close quarters may not be too far. Although we have a long list of approximately 120 proven and possible impact structures on the Earth (Fudali, 1999); our own Lonar is not just one of them but it is the most easily accessible and one of the larger (diameter >1.5 km), young craters that are little modified by erosion. Further reading:
FREDRIKSSON, K., DUBE, A., MILTON, D.J. and BALASUNDARAM, M.S. (1973). Lonar Lake India: An impact crater in basalt. Science, v. 180, pp. 862-864. FUDALI, R.F. (1999) Commentary on Lonar Crater Research. Mem. Jour. Geol. Soc. India No.43 (2), pp. 911-914. FUDALI, R.R. MILTON, D.J., FREDRIKSOON, K. and DUBE, A. (1980). Morphology of Lonar Crater India: comparisons and implications. The Moon and Planets. D.Riedel Publishing Co., Holland, pp. 493-515. GHOSH, S. and BHADURI, S.K. (2003). Petrography and petrochemistry of impact melts from Lonar Crater, Buldhana district, Maharashtra, India. Indian Minerals, v. 57, Nos. 1&2, pp. 1-26. KANEKAR, P.P., JOSHI, A.A., KELKAR, A.S., BORGAVE, S.B., PRADHAN, S.S., SARNAIK, S.S., and NILEGAOKAR, S.S. (2009) Bio-technological potential of alkliphilic, halotolerant bacteria isolated from alkaline Lonar lake, India; Deccan Volcanological Society, Spl. Vol. 1., pp.32-39. LA FOND, E.C. and DIETZ, R.S. (1964). Lonar Crater, India, a meteorite crater? Meteoritics, v.2., no.2, pp. 111-116. MALU, R.A., DABHADE, D.S., and KODARKAR, M.S. (2000) Diversity in Lonar lake, Jour. Aquatic Biology, v.15, pp.16-18.

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Geological Survey of India

MEDLICOTT, H.B. and BLANFORD, W.T. (1879). A manual of the geology of India, Part 1: Peninsular India. Geol. Surv. India. pp. 379-380. NANDY, N.C. and DEO, V.B. (1961) Origin of Lonar Lake and alkalinity. TISCO (Technical Journal of the Tata Iron and steel company Ltd. India), July, 1961.pp.144-155. OSAE, S., MISRA, S., KOEBERL, C., SENGUPTA, D. & GHOSH, S., (2005) Target rocks, impact glasses, and melt rocks from the Lonar impact crater, India: Petrography and geochemistry. Meteoritics & Planetary Sciences 40, 14731492. SENGUPTA, D., BHANDARI, N. and WATANABE, S. (1997). Formation age of Lonar Meteor Crater, India, Revista de Fisica Aplicada e Instrumentaao, v. 12, no.1, pp. 1-7. STORZER, D. and KOEBERL, C. (2004). Age of the Lonar impact Crater, India: First result from fission track dating. Lunar Planet. Sci. 35, abs. no.1309 (CD-ROM). SURKASI, V., SHOUCHE, Y.S. and RANADE, D.R. (2009) Metanogenic archaea of Lonar lake, Deccan Volcanological Society, Spl. Vol. 1., pp.28-32.

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Geological Survey of India

Figure Captions Fig. 1 A Fig. 1 B Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Sketch map of Lonar Lake and its surroundings. Spots identified as Fig.2 to 11 refer to the locations of the photographs included in the text. A view of Lonar Lake from MTDC guest house. Daityasudan temple A view of pahoehoe lava flows exposed along the inner slope of Lonar crater. The red interflow horizon marks the contact between two flows and the arrow shows flow lobe contact. Outwardly (away from the crater) inclined aa lava flow exposed along the inner slope of Lonar crater. A view of the ejecta blanket present on the north-northwestern side of the Lonar crater. An outcrop of ejecta near Gomukh temple. Note the large variation in rockfragment size in the ejecta. A close-up of the rock fragments in the ejecta, near Gomukh temple. Glassy fragments in the ejecta exposed due east of Lonar crater. A large glassy fragment in the ejecta exposed due east of Lonar crater. Geological sketch map and section of Lonar crater and its neighbourhood (Sabale and Sen, 2005) An outcrop of impactite- a rock produced as a result of impact. Location: east of Amber lake. Paleosol (pre-impact soil) underlying the ejecta. Location: Northwest of Lonar crater. A plank put forth by the Geological Survey of India declaring Lonar crater to be a crater formed by hypervelocity meteorite impact.

Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Fig. 6 A Fig. 6 B Fig. 7 A Fig. 7 B Fig. 8 Fig. 9 Fig. 10 Fig. 11

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