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    Aluminum Lyman α group formation at high-intensity, high-energy laser-matter interaction
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    A high‐resolution study of 18 lunar craters, including both primary and distant secondary craters, shows that the secondary craters produce larger ejecta fragments at a given crater size than do the primary craters. The maximum boulder diameter ( B ) increases with crater size ( D ) according to the power law B = KD 2/3 ; for primary craters, when B and D are in meters, K is 0.29, whereas for secondary craters, we find that K is 0.46 (60% larger). Next we show that impact fracture theory predicts that secondary craters, because of their lower impact velocity, will produce larger ejecta fragments than primary craters. This result provides an opportunity for distinguishing between primary and secondary craters in high resolution planetary images. The ability to identify distant secondary craters will help constrain primary production rates of small craters and improve surface age determination of small areas based on small crater counts.
    Primary (astronomy)
    Lunar craters
    Citations (53)
    Abstract We investigate the elevated crater rims of lunar craters. The two main contributors to this elevation are a structural uplift of the preimpact bedrock and the emplacement of ejecta on top of the crater rim. Here, we focus on five lunar complex mare craters with diameters ranging between 16 and 45 km: Bessel, Euler, Kepler, Harpalus, and Bürg. We performed 5281 measurements to calculate precise values for the structural rim uplift and the ejecta thickness at the elevated crater rim. The average structural rim uplift for these five craters amounts to S RU = 70.6 ± 1.8%, whereas the ejecta thickness amounts to E T = 29.4 ± 1.8% of the total crater rim elevation. Erosion is capable of modifying the ratio of ejecta thickness to structural rim uplift. However, to minimize the impact of erosion, the five investigated craters are young, pristine craters with mostly preserved ejecta blankets. To quantify how strongly craters were enlarged by crater modification processes, we reconstructed the dimensions of the transient crater. The difference between the transient crater diameter and the final crater diameter can extend up to 11 km. We propose reverse faulting and thrusting at the final crater rim to be one of the main contributing factors of forming the elevated crater rim.
    Bedrock
    Lunar craters
    Citations (12)
    The amount of obliteration suffered by Martian impact craters is quantified by comparing measurable attributes of the current crater shape to those values expected for a fresh crater of identical size. Crater diameters are measured from profiles obtained using photoclinometry across the structure. The relationship between the diameter of a fresh crater and a crater depth, floor width, rim height, central peak height, etc. was determined by empirical studies performed on fresh Martian impact craters. We utilized the changes in crater depth and rim height to judge the degree of obliteration suffered by Martian impact craters.
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    Cratering processes on icy satellites were simulated in a series of 102 laboratory impact experiments involving a wide range of target materials. For impacts into homogeneous clay slurries with impact energies ranging from five million to ten billion ergs, target yield strengths ranged from 100 to 38 Pa, and apparent viscosities ranged from 8 to 200 Pa s. Bowl-shaped craters, flat-floored craters, central peak craters with high or little relief, and craters with no relief were observed. Crater diameters increased steadily as energies were raised. A similar sequence was seen for experiment in which impact energy was held constant but target viscosity and strength progressively decreases. The experiments suggest that the physical properties of the target media relative to the gravitationally induced stresses determined the final crater morphology. Crater palimpsests could form by prompt collapse of large central peak craters formed in low target strength materials. Ages estimated from crater size-frequency distributions that include these large craters may give values that are too high.
    Impact energy
    Lunar craters
    Citations (0)
    [1] Crater statistics are used across a wide variety of applications on planetary surfaces, one of the most notable being estimating relative and absolute ages of those surfaces. This requires an assumed cratering rate over time and that craters be randomly distributed. Secondary craters - craters that form from the ejecta of an impact event - belie this assumption by creating greater crater density in a local area at a single time, significantly affecting crater statistics. There has been substantial debate over the relative importance of secondary craters, and our findings in this Mars study indicate that these events can be very significant and cannot be ignored when age-dating surfaces. We have analyzed secondary crater fields found close to 24 primary craters on Mars. Among other findings such as terrain control over secondary crater field characteristics, we conclude that a single large impact event (>100 km) can significantly affect crater statistics at the ∼1–5-km-diameter level over a non-trivial fraction of a planetary surface (minimum secondary crater diameters examined were ∼0.9 km; the minimum primary crater diameter was ∼20 km). We also suggest a potential way to avoid significant contamination by the majority of secondary craters that occur close to the primary impact event without the need to manually classify every crater as primary or secondary. Our findings are specific to Mars, but further work may show the patterns are applicable to other solid bodies.
    Primary (astronomy)
    Citations (45)
    Cratering processes on icy satellites were simulated in a series of 102 laboratory impact experiments involving a wide range of target materials. For impacts into homogeneous clay slurries with impact energies ranging from five million to ten billion ergs, target yield strengths ranged from 100 to 38 Pa, and apparent viscosities ranged from 8 to 200 Pa s. Bowl-shaped craters, flat-floored craters, central peak craters with high or little relief, and craters with no relief were observed. Crater diameters increased steadily as energies were raised. A similar sequence was seen for experiment in which impact energy was held constant but target viscosity and strength progressively decreases. The experiments suggest that the physical properties of the target media relative to the gravitationally induced stresses determined the final crater morphology. Crater palimpsests could form by prompt collapse of large central peak craters formed in low target strength materials. Ages estimated from crater size-frequency distributions that include these large craters may give values that are too high.
    Lunar craters
    Impact energy
    Citations (45)
    ABSTRACT Rampart craters are omnipresent features on volatile-rich solid planetary surfaces. This raises the question whether, and how many, rampart craters are present on Earth. We reviewed the terrestrial impact crater record with regard to possible rampart morphologies and present detailed morphological analyses of these terrestrial craters here. Our results show that the Ries crater in Germany, Bosumtwi crater in Ghana, Tenoumer crater in Mauritania, Lonar crater in India, and Meteor crater in the United States are terrestrial rampart craters. The Ries and Bosumtwi craters can be classified as double-layer ejecta (DLE) craters, whereas Tenoumer, Lonar, and Meteor craters can be classified as single-layer ejecta (SLE) craters. Tenoumer and Meteor craters show rampart as well as common lunar-like ejecta characteristics within their ejecta blankets and, thus, appear to be hybrid craters. In addition, we discuss seven crater structures that show at least some morphological or lithological peculiarities that could provide evidence for possible ejecta ramparts. Considering the low number of terrestrial impact craters with well-preserved ejecta blankets, the relatively high proportion of rampart craters is astonishing. Obviously, the formation of layered or rampart craters is a common and not a rare process on Earth.
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