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. 1

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 Vishnu’s 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 a’a (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 a’a 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 multi-
disciplinary 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
Lonar’s 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
Mountain’s similarity with the Lonar. La Touche and Christie (1912) followed Blanford’s
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 crater’s 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
Contributed by Dr. M. Bodas, B. Sen & K.K.K. Nair, GSI, CR. 7
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 multi-

disciplinary 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, 1473–1492.
SENGUPTA, D., BHANDARI, N. and WATANABE, S. (1997). Formation age of Lonar
Meteor Crater, India, Revista de Fisica Aplicada e Instrumentaçao, 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 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.
Fig. 1 B A view of Lonar Lake from MTDC guest house.
Fig. 2 Daityasudan temple
Fig. 3 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.
Fig. 4 Outwardly (away from the crater) inclined a’a lava flow exposed along the
inner slope of Lonar crater.
Fig. 5 A view of the ejecta blanket present on the north-northwestern side of the
Lonar crater.
Fig. 6 A An outcrop of ejecta near Gomukh temple. Note the large variation in rock-
fragment size in the ejecta.
Fig. 6 B A close-up of the rock fragments in the ejecta, near Gomukh temple.
Fig. 7 A Glassy fragments in the ejecta exposed due east of Lonar crater.
Fig. 7 B A large glassy fragment in the ejecta exposed due east of Lonar crater.
Fig. 8 Geological sketch map and section of Lonar crater and its neighbourhood
(Sabale and Sen, 2005)
Fig. 9 An outcrop of ‘impactite’- a rock produced as a result of impact. Location:
east of Amber lake.
Fig. 10 Paleosol (pre-impact soil) underlying the ejecta. Location: Northwest of
Lonar crater.
Fig. 11 A plank put forth by the Geological Survey of India declaring Lonar crater to
be “a crater formed by hypervelocity meteorite impact”.

Contributed by Dr. M. Bodas, B. Sen & K.K.K. Nair, GSI, CR. 10