Frank Schönian, Institute for Mineralogy

deutsch / english / español

Personal Facts

born 15/01/1973 in East-Berlin
unmarried, one child, an explorer

Education

03/2005 - 08/2005: visiting scientist at the Geophysical Institute, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City

Since 10/2001: Ph.D. student in the graduate research program Evolutive Transformations and Mass Extinctions at the Museum of Natural History in Berlin (Project A1).

01/2001 - 09/2001: Trainee as Specialist for Geoinformatic Applications

1994 - 2000: Studies in Physical Geography and Geology at the Humboldt-University and the Technical University of Berlin

1991 - 1993: Studies in Mathematics at the Humboldt-University of Berlin

07/1991: High School graduation (A-level) at the special school for mathematics, natural sciences and technology 'Heinrich Hertz', Berlin

Master Thesis

Depositional history of the Cancañiri diamictites (Ordovician/Silurian) in the area of the Santa Cruz Loma, near Tarija, Southern Bolivia
(TU-Berlin, Historical Geology Department, Institute for Applied Geosciences II)

Current Project (Ph.D.)

Distribution, petrography and genesis of the ejecta blanket of the Chicxulub impact crater in the area of the southern Yucatán Peninsula  
(Museum of Natural History, Berlin, Institute of Mineralogy; accompanying the ICDP "Chicxulub Scientific Drilling Project")

General Research Interests

- Cataclystic events and palaeoclimatic indicators and in the sedimentary record
(impact events, glaciations and other events related to faunal turnovers; e.g. O/S- and K/T-boundaries)
- Petrography and genesis of poorly sorted sedimentary rocks
(diamictites and breccias; ejecta blankets, deposits of mass movement processes, glaciogenic deposits)
- Normal versus catastrophic sedimentation
(time factor in sedimentary successions)
- Planetology: impact cratering, deposition of ejecta blankets and other sedimentary processes in the Solar System
(esp. comparison of ejecta blankets on Moon, Mars, Venus and Earth)

Honors

06/2003: Barringer Foundation - 'Barringer Award for Meteorite Impact Research' (Research Grant)
06/2002: European Science Foundation ('ESF impact' program) - Student Travel Grant
09/2000: International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS) - Student Travel Grant

Memberships

International Association of Sedimentologists

The Meteoritical Society

European Geosciences Union

The Geological Society of America

Publications

Full papers & extended abstracts

Schönian, F., Kenkmann, T., Stöffler, D., 2010. The Chicxulub ejecta blanket and its bearing on sample return missions to Mars. In: Nördlingen 2010: The Ries Crater, the Moon, and the Future of Human Space Exploration, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, LPI Contribution No. 1559 : p.36. (abstract, 42 kB; poster, 661 kB)
Schönian, F., D. Stöffler & T. Kenkmann, 2008. On the distribution of impact melt and basement clasts in the Chicxulub ejecta blanket. In: Large Meteorite Impacts and Planetary Evolution IV, August 2008, Vredefort Dome, South Africa, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston : abstract #3100. (abstract, 30 kB)
Schönian, F., D. Stöffler & T. Kenkmann, 2008. Particle abrasion within the Chicxulub ejecta blanket: Implications for the emplacement process. In: 39th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, March 2008, League City, USA, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston : abstract #2029. (abstract, 300 kB; poster, 741 kB)
Schönian, F. & S. Egenhoff, 2007. A Late Ordovician ice sheet in South America: Evidence from the Cancañiri tillites, southern Bolivia. In: Linnemann, U., Nance, R.D., Kraft, P., and Zulauf, G. (eds.), The evolution of the Rheic Ocean: From Avalonian-Cadomian active margin to Alleghenian-Variscan collision, Geological Society of America, Special Paper 423 : 525-548. (abstract, 43 kB)
Kenkmann, T. & F. Schönian, 2006. Ries and Chicxulub: impact craters on Earth provide insights for Martian ejecta blankets. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 41 (10) : 1587-1603. (abstract, 20 kB)
Schönian, F., T. Salge, T. Kenkmann, D. Stöffler, A.M. Soler Arechalde & J. Urrutia Fucugauchi, 2006. Chicxulub ejecta blanket: the suevites of the UNAM 5 and 7 drill cores. In: 37th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, March 2006, League City, USA, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston : abstract #2229. (abstract, 715 kB; poster, 1.4 MB)
Kenkmann, T. & F. Schönian, 2005. Impact craters on Mars and Earth: Implications by analogy. In: Workshop on the role of volatiles and atmospheres on Martian impact craters, June 2005, Laurel, Maryland, USA, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston : abstract #3017. (abstract, 207 kB)
Schönian, F., R. Tagle, D. Stöffler & T. Kenkmann, 2005. Geology of southern Quintana Roo (Mexico) and the Chicxulub ejecta blanket. In: 36th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, March 2005, League City, USA, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston : abstract #2389. (abstract, 103 kB)
Schönian, F., D. Stöffler, T. Kenkmann & A. Wittmann, 2004. The fluidized Chicxulub ejecta blanket, Mexico: Implications for Mars. In: 35th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, March 2004, League City, USA, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston : abstract #1848. (abstract, 363 kB; poster, 1.1 MB)
Schönian, F., 2003. Ambiente sedimentario de las diamictitas de la Formación Cancañiri en el área de Sella, sur de Bolivia. Revista Técnica de Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB), Cochabamba, Bolivia, 21 : 131-146. (pdf, 915 kB)
Schönian, F., T. Kenkmann, & D. Stöffler, 2003. Internal shearing and subsurface erosion from the Chicxulub ejecta blanket (Albion Fm.), Quintana Roo, Mexico. In: Third International Conference on Large Meteorite Impacts, Nördlingen, Germany, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, LPI Contribution No. 1167 : abstract #4128. (abstract, 103 kB)
Schönian, F., T. Salge, D. Stöffler & J. Urrutia-Fucugauchi, 2003. Additional observations on the impact breccias of the Chicxulub ejecta blanket from the UNAM-7 drill core, Yucatán, Mexico. In: Third International Conference on Large Meteorite Impacts, Nördlingen, Germany, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, LPI Contribution No. 1167 : abstract #4132. (abstract, 311 kB; poster, 331 kB)
Schönian, F., S.O. Egenhoff, J. Marcinek & B.-D. Erdtmann, 1999. Glaciation at the Ordovician - Silurian boundary in southern Bolivia. In: Acta Universitatis Carolinae - Geologica, 43 (1/2) : 175-178. Praha.(pdf, 290 kB)

Conference abstracts

Schönian, F., 2007. A multiple-center glaciation in the Late Ordovician? Tillites from southern Bolivia suggest an independent, temperate ice shield in South America. In: European Geoscience Union, General Assembly , April 2007, Vienna, Austria, abstract #EGU2007-A-11046. (abstract, 8 kB)
Schönian, F.& T. Kenkmann, T., 2006. Implications for Martian ejecta blankets from the Ries and Chicxulub impact structures. In: First International Conference on Impact Cratering in the Solar System, May 2006, Noordwijk, Netherlands, European Space Agency / ESTEC, abstract #296141. (abstract, 77 kB)
Schönian, F., Kenkmann, T. & D. Stöffler, 2005. Sedimentary characteristics of the Chicxulub ejecta blanket: A model for Martian rampart crater. In: Paneth Kolloquium 2005, Nördlingen, Germany, October 2005, program & abstracts, abstract PC2005 #20.
Schönian, F., 2004. Tillites versus impact ejecta: A comparison from the Ordovician-Silurian (S-Bolivia) and Cretaceous-Tertiary (SE-Mexico) boundaries. In: 32nd International Geological Congress, August 2004, Firence, Italia. (abstract, 16 kB)
Stöffler, D., B.A. Ivanov, L. Hecht, T. Kenkmann, R.T. Schmitt, T. Salge, F. Schönian, R. Tagle, S. Weseler & A. Wittmann, 2003. Origin and emplacement of the impact formations at Chicxulub, Mexico, with special emphasis on the Yax-1 deep drilling. In: Third International Conference on Large Meteorite Impacts, Nördlingen, Germany, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, LPI Contribution No. 1167 : abstract #4092.
Schönian, F., T. Kenkmann, & D. Stöffler, 2002. Chicxulub ejecta blanket: New insights into the KT impact event. In: Mesozoic-Cenozoic Bioevents: Possible links to impacts and other causes, International Symposium, Berlin, Germany, Scientific Program : p. 61. (abstract, 73 kB; poster, 245 kB)
Schönian, F., T. Kenkmann & D. Stöffler, 2002. Tracing the Chicxulub ejecta blanket on the Southern Yucatán Peninsula: Implications for the mechanisms of ejecta deposition on Earth. In: ESF workshop on impact tectonism, Mora, Sweden, Abstracts : p. 56. (poster, 200 kB)
Schönian, F., S. Egenhoff & B.-D. Erdtmann, 2000. Refined lithofacies codes for poorly sorted sedimentary rocks (diamictites) with an example from the Upper Ordovician of southern Bolivia. In: International Association of Sedimentologists, 20th Regional Meeting, Dublin, Abstract Volume : 131-132. (abstract, 79 kB)
Schönian, F. & S.O. Egenhoff, 2000. Roundness, shape and lithology of the pebbles from the Cancañiri tillites in southern Bolivia: Genetic and paleogeographic implications. In: International Association of Sedimentologists, 20th Regional Meeting, Dublin, Abstract Volume : 133-134. (poster, 313 kB)
Schönian, F., S.O. Egenhoff & B.-D. Erdtmann, 2000. Late Ordovician tillites in Southern Bolivia: How to describe, interprete and classify diamictite successions. In: 31st International Geological Congress, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (abstract, 46 kB)
Marek, J., B. Weber, F. Schönian, S.O. Egenhoff & B.-D.Erdtmann, 2000. Arenigian cephalopodes of southern Bolivia. In: Palaeontology Down-Under 2000, Orange, NSW, Australia, Abstracts.

Other

Schönian, F. 2000. Die Ablagerungsgeschichte der Cancañiri-Diamiktite (Ordovizium/Silur) im Gebiet der Santa Cruz Loma, bei Tarija, Südbolivien. II. Die Cancañiri Formation bei Sella, Tarija, Südbolivien -Diplomarbeit-. (unpublished thesis paper, in German)
Schönian, F. 1999. Die Ablagerungsgeschichte der Cancañiri-Diamiktite (Ordovizium/Silur) im Gebiet der Santa Cruz Loma, bei Tarija, Südbolivien. I. Die Geologie nordwestlich von Sella bei Tarija, Südbolivien -Kartierbericht-. (unpublished mapping report, in German)

Links

Barringer Crater Company / Barringer Family Fund

The Planetary Society: 'Journey to the End of an Era' - Belize expedition 2001

Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson / Arizona: 'The Chicxulub Impact Event'

Carleton University / Canada: 'The Last Day of the Cretaceous'

NASA - Jet Propulsion Laboratory: 'A Smoking Gun for Dinosaur Extinction'

International Continental Drilling Project (ICDP, GFZ-Potsdam): 'The Chicxulub Crater'

International Continental Drilling Project (ICDP): Chicxulub - main page

Planetary and Space Science Centre at the University of New Brunswick / Canada: World Crater Database - Chicxulub Crater

Chicxulub Crater in the NASA's 'Planetary Photojournal' (SRTM - Shuttle Radar Topography Mission 06.03.2003)

Chicxulub-website at the UNAM, Mexiko-Stadt (in spanish)