The crater and proximal effects of the largest known young meteorite impact on Earth have eluded discovery for nearly a century. We present 4 lines of evidence that the 0.79-Ma impact crater of the Australasian tektites lies buried beneath lavas of a long-lived, 910-km3 volcanic field in Southern Laos: 1) Tektite geochemistry implies the presence of young, weathered basalts at the site at the time of the impact. 2) Geologic mapping and 40Ar-39Ar dates confirm that both pre- and postimpact basaltic lavas exist at the proposed impact site and that postimpact basalts wholly cover it. 3) A gravity anomaly there may also reflect the presence of a buried ∼17 × 13-km crater. 4) The nature of an outcrop of thick, crudely layered, bouldery sandstone and mudstone breccia 10-20 km from the center of the impact and fractured quartz grains within its boulder clasts support its being part of the proximal ejecta blanket.

中文翻译：

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澳大拉西亚的火山口埋在老挝南部的博拉文火山场下。

已知最大的年轻陨石撞击地球的陨石坑和近端效应至今尚无发现，已有近一个世纪的历史了。我们提供4条证据，证明在老挝南部一个长寿命的910 km3火山岩的熔岩下埋藏着澳大利亚的陨石的0.79-Ma撞击坑：1）Tektite地球化学表明该地区存在年轻的风化玄武岩网站在受到影响时。2）地质测绘和40Ar-39Ar日期证实了拟建的撞击点都存在撞击前和撞击后的玄武岩熔岩，并且撞击后的玄武岩完全覆盖了它。3）那里的重力异常也可能反映了〜17×13 km的陨石坑的存在。4）裸露的粗大层状露头的性质，