David King

Auburn University, Geosciences, Faculty Member

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I am a sedimentary petrologist and stratigrapher who works primarily on geological evidence of cosmic impacts into Earth's ancient oceans. I have an additional interest in planetary geology, particularly Martian impact craters, geomorphology, and geological history. And, I study the stratigraphic record and geological history of the coastal plains of Belize in Central America and Alabama in the USA, including their petroleum and other economic potential.
Phone: 3345592451
Address: Geosciences department
Auburn University
Auburn, Alabama 36849-5305 USA

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Papers by David King

King and Petruny 2023 Geo Gulf Belize revision

Up to now, the widely used Mesozoic and Cenozoic chronostratigraphy of Belize has been based upon... more Up to now, the widely used Mesozoic and Cenozoic chronostratigraphy of Belize has been based upon estimations and assumptions made by geological pioneers working in that country decades ago. During the 1950s, Giovanni Flores and C. G. Dixon, working independently, studied and named most of the informal, post-Paleozoic lithostratigraphy of the former English colony (British Honduras). In so doing, Flores (working in the northern [Corozal] basin), and Dixon (working in the southern [Belize] basin), made age estimates for all the known lithostratigraphic units of Belize. These age estimates were thought to be reasonable at the time, and for the past ~60 years that chronostratigraphy has been repeated without further significant investigation in government and corporate reports, on geological maps, and in most published papers. Since 2003, the Auburn research group has produced a series of papers addressing the sedimentology, stratigraphy, and depositional environments of nearly all the formations of northern Belize, plus the Toledo formation of southern Belize. Further, since 2018, the Auburn research group has provided newly revised ages of many of the lithostratigraphic units within both Belize basins. In this paper, we present a proposed revision of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic chronostratigraphy of Belize, particularly northern Belize, and we note where additional stratigraphic work is needed. Revision of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Chronostratigraphy of Belize

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Burying the blue sky: Poten�al for carbon dioxide from direct air-capture technology to be stored in the Corozal Basin of northern Belize

In this paper, it is proposed that a developing na�on like Belize could u�lize its subsurface cap... more In this paper, it is proposed that a developing na�on like Belize could u�lize its subsurface capacity for carbon sequestra�on and in so doing employ direct air-capture technology once the cost of such technology reaches a feasible level of about $100US per metric ton. The

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Origin of a polymict, mega-clast-bearing impact breccia in the crater floor of Wetumpka Impact Structure, Elmore County, Alabama: Insights from surface outcrops and a drill core

Wetumpka impact structure is a Late Cretaceous, marine-target impact crater of about 5 km diamete... more Wetumpka impact structure is a Late Cretaceous, marine-target impact crater of about 5 km diameter. The apparent crater rim is mostly made of crystalline local basement, and the apparent crater floor consists of a mixed sediments of target lithology. These sediments are the provenance of the crater-filling impactite sands, overlying trans-crater slide unit, and the capping polymict impact breccia deposit, often referred to by previous workers as "central polymict breccia." The unit has been known to contain elongated mega-clasts of up to tens of meters in size. This study attempted to understand the mode of emplacement of this polymict breccia, which occurs in some places on the apparent crater floor and resembles a polymict proximal ejecta deposit. This work also reports the first documentation of rare, potential impact spherules in the polymict impact breccia, interpreted to be a part of distal ejecta. The presence of large, decimeter-sized clasts in the breccia can be best explained by the movement of overturned rim flap forming part of proximal ejecta from the crater rim to the apparent crater floor during early modification stage of impact cratering. Our work highlights the bimodal clast size distribution of the polymict breccia, and so we propose that the term "mega-clast-bearing impact breccia" be used for this unit. We attribute a generally steep orientation of the decameter sized clasts to primary imbrication during emplacement. The emplacement of this breccia is interpreted as associated with the ejecta emplacement process that occurred before the return of marine resurge.

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$Research paper thumbnail of Shocked quartzite clasts with transverse fractures from Araguainha impact structure, Brazil$

Shocked quartzite clasts with transverse fractures from Araguainha impact structure, Brazil

The central uplift area of Araguainha impact structure (Brazil) includes a quartzite pebble-and c... more The central uplift area of Araguainha impact structure (Brazil) includes a quartzite pebble-and cobble-bearing stratigraphic facies that have been profoundly affected by impact processes. These quartzite clasts have been studied previously for their planar deformation features (PDFs), but not with regard to their noteworthy transverse fractures. Petrographic study of transverse fractures within seven selected impact-affected cobbles from the conglomeratic fluvial facies of the target Devonian Furnas Formation (near the central uplift of Araguainha impact structure) has revealed that there is a micro-breccia within these transverse fractures, and this micro-breccia originated by comminution of the host cobble. Further, the transverse fractures in these cobbles have different styles (welldefined, poorly defined, complex, and diffuse) and are evidently post-shock, brittle deformation features. We suggest that a late compression-stage process, perhaps collapse of the central peak, may be responsible for the development of these transverse fractures.

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Global hydrogen occurrences reviewed

Studies of hydrogen emanations from within clusters of shallow depressions of enigmatic origin at... more Studies of hydrogen emanations from within clusters of shallow depressions of enigmatic origin at many places in the world have shown that these depressions are vents for significant amounts of hydrogen gas emerging from the subsurface. Further, geophysical investigations of the deep subsurface realm beneath the areas where there are such depressions emitting hydrogen gas indicate that there are possible sources for the gas, notably either from serpentinization of large mafic rock bodies at depth; and/or from a deep-seated tectonic boundary from which mantle-derived hydrogen may be emerging. The present report reviews some noteworthy previous investigations of hydrogen-gas emanations from shallow depressions and describes similar-appearing shallow depressions from a potential hydrogen-emitting area in southern Belize.

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Well-Preserved Accretionary Impact Spherules within Vapor-Plume Deposits, K-Pg Boundary Outcrop in the Village of Armenia, Belize

Accretionary impact spherules, some as large as 3.1 cm in diameter, occur within a fine-grained c... more Accretionary impact spherules, some as large as 3.1 cm in diameter, occur within a fine-grained carbonate layer (an impactoclastic calcisiltite), which lies atop the terminal Cretaceous (latest Maastrichtian) paleosol in an outcrop located at the village of Armenia in central Belize. This fine-grained layer is interpreted as the vapor plume deposit from the Chicxulub impact structure and is composed of pulverized and comminuted carbonate mixed with clay. The accretionary impact spherules were formed by the aggradation of the vapor plume's fine solid particles during turbulent flight over a distance of about 520 km from Chicxulub's southern rim. These impact spherules, which are remarkably well-preserved, exhibit a nucleus of either rock or glass and one to three concentric coatings of finely-comminuted carbonate target rock. Coatings on individual spherules are non-graded and display fine-scale components such as silt inclusions, crystal-filled radial fractures, and microconglomerate layers.

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Numerical simulation of the shallow marine target Wetumpka impact crater (Alabama, USA

The Wetumpka impact structure, which has a NW-SE diameter of ∼5 km and a NE-SW diameter of ∼7.6 k... more The Wetumpka impact structure, which has a NW-SE diameter of ∼5 km and a NE-SW diameter of ∼7.6 km, is located in central Alabama (USA), where it was formed in a shallow, nearshore marine environment during the Late Cretaceous. This impact structure has been studied previously through field investigations, shallow core drilling, and gravity modeling. In this paper, we build upon those studies by performing hydrocode modeling using iSALE-2D to investigate the transient crater evolution and the craterfilling sequence. The present study helps explain the unusual collapsed, southwestern, seaward-facing, quadrant of the rim, which is thought to have contributed substantially to the upper part of the crater-filling sequence. We chose a three-layer model to approximate the initial target layer morphology: water on top; sediments in the middle; and granite at the bottom. We performed compression and tensile strength tests on intact micaceous schist (approximated as granite in the model) collected from the crater rim, which were used to obtain values for cohesion in the iSALE-2D damage model. We performed simulations with different combinations of water depths (62.5-125 m), impact velocities (12-18 km/s), and sediment thicknesses (100-300 m) to assess five different impact scenarios. We observed that simulations involving a 400-m-diameter impactor, impacting at 12 km/s (vertical component) on a target with 62.5 m water depth and a 300-m-target sediment layer, resulted in a final crater model that best approximates what has been observed in the field as well as by drilling and gravity modeling. Finally, we compared the pressures predicted by iSALE-2D with previous studies of Wetumpka's shock petrography. Our numerical results show a relatively close correlation between both the geological relationships and shock levels observed within and among the craterfilling units. This study not only enhances our understanding of the Wetumpka impact structure but also demonstrates the potential of numerical modeling in reconstructing impact crater evolution, offering a foundation for future research in both terrestrial and planetary impact cratering.

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Provenance Variations of Cretaceous Sandstones from Arkansas and Drainage Reorganization in Southern USA: Evidence from Detrital Zircon Ages

Detrital zircon (DZ) ages of Cretaceous sandstones in the United States contain critical spatial ... more Detrital zircon (DZ) ages of Cretaceous sandstones in the United States contain critical spatial and temporal information on their sedimentary provenance and on the reorganization of drainage patterns. Herein, we report zircon U-Pb ages of sandstones from Lower Cretaceous and Upper Cretaceous formations of Arkansas. All Arkansas sandstones studied, except for those from the Upper Cretaceous Nacatoch Formation, display dominant Appalachian-Grenville DZ ages from among the Appalachian-Ouachita DZ grains that were studied. Our work shows that the sedimentary provenance of Arkansas sandstones started to change during the middle part of the Cretaceous. Notably, DZ grains from the Woodbine formation, which was deposited during the middle part of Cretaceous, show moderate contributions from Western Cordillera sources (275-55 Ma), and DZ grains from the Upper Cretaceous Nacatoch Formation exhibit dominant Western Cordillera sourcing. Our Arkansas-based DZ data suggest that the onset of DZ contribution of the Western Cordillera began at about 94 Ma, and the peak of the Western Cordillera source contribution occurred at about 73 Ma. Therefore, we can show that North American drainage reorganization with regard to Western Cordilleran DZ sourcing in Arkansas began during the time span 94-73 Ma, which is earlier than the previously reported onset of drainage reorganization with regard to Texas (i.e., 66-55 Ma).

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Burial and exhumation of Wetumpka impact crater, Alabama

The burial and exhumation history of the Wetumpka impact crater, which is located at the boundary... more The burial and exhumation history of the Wetumpka impact crater, which is located at the boundary between the crystalline Piedmont terrain of the southern Appalachian Mountains and the inner coastal plain terrain of Alabama, has not been investigated in any significant way since geologists recognized (c. 1969) that the semi-circular, topographic features composed of outcrops of Piedmont schist and gneiss near Wetumpka, Alabama, might be the rim of an eroded impact crater. Recent satellite imagery, along with new field work, is combined with a review of pertinent eustatic sea-level curves and pre-existing topographic and geological maps, and that helps reveal this missing chapter in the history of the crater. In the present paper, we explain how the Wetumpka impact crater was initially an emergent, Late Cretaceous shallow marine feature that was deeply eroded until middle Oligocene. Then, the Wetumpka impact crater was buried beneath, then exhumed from, thick clastic deposits informally called the "high terrace," which is lower-middle Miocene. Burial and Exhumation History of the Wetumpka Impact Crater, Alabama

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King et al 2026 Geo Gulf Trans hydrogen

In this paper, we report for the first time, hydrogen emissions from a cluster bay, which is a sh... more In this paper, we report for the first time, hydrogen emissions from a cluster bay, which is a shallow surface depression in southern Alabama that looks like other hydrogen-emitting surface structures elsewhere in the world. Alabama's cluster bays, also known locally as Falco bays, have been known for some time, but their connection with hydrogen emission was not established until now. At one of Alabama's cluster bays, Bear Bay, hydrogen emissions up to 10 ppm have been recorded on the rim of the bay, particularly on the sandy ridge on the southern end of the bay. Bear Bay's amoeboid shape, like the other bays in this area, is likely the result of small group or cluster of multiple smaller bays coalescing over time. This is also a pattern of shape seen in several other areas in the world where hydrogen is being emitted from similar-appearing, shallow surface depressions.

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