Impact experiments in low-temperature ice
- Creators
- Lange, Manfred A.
- Ahrens, Thomas J.
Abstract
New results of low-velocity impact experiments in cubic and cylindrical (20 cm) water-ice targets initially at 257 and 81 °K are reported. Impact velocities and impact energies vary between 0.1 and 0.64 km/sec and 10^9 and 10^(10) ergs, respectively. Observed crater diameters range from 7 to 15 cm and are two to three times larger than values found for equal-energy impacts in basaltic targets. Crater dimensions in ice targets increase slightly with increasing target temperatures. Crater volumes of strength-controlled ice craters are about 10 to 100 times larger than those observed for craters in crystalline rocks. Based on similarity analysis, general scaling laws for strength-controlled crater formation are derived and are applied to crater formation on the icy Galilean and Saturnian satellites. This analysis indicates that surface ages, based on impact-crater statistics on an icy crust, will appear greater than those for a silicate crust which experienced the same impact history. The greater ejecta volume for cratering in ice versus cratering in silicate targets leads to accelerated regolith production on an icy planet.
Additional Information
© 1987 Academic Press, Inc. Received September 3, 1985; Revised October 15, 1986. We appreciate the assistance of M. Long, E. Gelle, and C. Manning with the experiments. We appreciate both the advice and generous use of the cold-room facility proffered by B. Kamb. The prepublication results provided by K. Holsapple and K. Housen were helpful. M. A. Lange was partly supported by a stipend of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. We appreciate helpful comments of S. Croft and K. Holsapple on this paper, which was supported under NASA Contract, NGL 105-002-105, Contribution No. 4268, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 51005
- DOI
- 10.1016/0019-1035(87)90020-0
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20141029-115544788
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
- NGL 105-002-105
- NASA
- Created
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2014-10-29Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Other Numbering System Name
- Caltech Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
- Other Numbering System Identifier
- 4268