ART IMPACT
Where Art and Science Collide
THE WETUMPKA IMPACT CRATER COMMISSION
Dr. David King, Jr.
David King
Geosciences
Professor of Geology
Research Areas: Dr. King’s main area of basic academic research is the effect of asteroid and comet impact upon Earth history and the stratigraphic record. He also engages in applied research in the areas of petroleum exploration, carbon sequestration, and subsurface waste disposal.
Office: 2058 Beard Eaves Coliseum
Address:
2050 Beard Eaves Coliseum
Auburn, AL 36849
Wetumpka Impact Crater Research Papers:
PUBLIC CRATER LECTURE
Wetumpka Civic Center
Feb. 23, 2023 @ 6:30 pm
About
Education
Ph.D., Geology, University of Missouri-Columbia
1980
M.S., Geology, University of Houston
1976
B.S., Geology, University of Louisiana-Monroe
1972
Professional Employment
Professor, Auburn University
1998 - Present
Associate Professor, Auburn University
1986 - 1998
Assistant Professor, Auburn University
1980 - 1986
Honors and Awards
2014 Dr. King received the 2014 Distinguished Service Award, Gulf Coast Section, Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM) for his service to the profession and the Gulf Coast Section.
2012 Dr. King received a 2012 Dean's Faculty Outreach Award for his work with the city of Wetumpka, Alabama, on public understanding of the Wetumpka impact crater.
2004 Dr. King received a 2004 Grover C. Murray Award for an outstanding paper in the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions.
1985/1989 Dr. King has been honored as the outstanding science/math faculty member in the former School of Arts and Sciences (1985) and as an Auburn Alumni Association outstanding teacher (1989).
1998, Two cores were drilled and core samples were extracted for testing. Geologists hoped to find materials proving the “Astrobleme” theory. Dr. David T. King, Jr., Professor of Geology at Auburn University, headed the research team. The researchers indeed found that the core contained shocked quartz, which can only be formed by pressures exerted during an enormous explosion such as a large meteor impact. The research team also found chemical traces of the meteorite elements embedded in the local bedrock.
2009, Dr. David T. King, Jr., Professor of Geology at Auburn University, headed the research team that drilled nine boreholes down into the crater at depths ranging from 70 to 700 feet. This drilling program, funded by NASA, provided much more information about the crater-filling materials and the role of water in the Wetumpka impact event. Drilling in 2009 did not reach the bottom of the crater, which is estimated to be a kilometer or about 3,200 feet below the present land surface.
