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Register a new userImpact crater morphology and the structure of Europas ice shell
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We performed numerical simulations of impact crater formation on Europa to infer the thickness and structure of its ice shell. The simulations were performed using iSALE to test both the conductive ice shell over ocean and the conductive lid over warm convective ice scenarios for a variety of conditions. The modeled crater depth-diameter is strongly dependent on thermal gradient and temperature of the warm convective ice. Our results indicate that both a fully conductive (thin) shell and a conductive-convective (thick) shell can reproduce the observed crater depth-diameter and morphologies. For the conductive ice shell over ocean, the best fit is an approximately 8 km thick conductive ice shell. Depending on the temperature (255 - 265 K) and therefore strength of warm convective ice, the thickness of the conductive ice lid is estimated at 5 - 7 km. If central features within the crater, such as pits and domes, form during crater collapse, our simulations are in better agreement with the fully conductive shell (thin shell). If central features form well after the impact, however, our simulations suggest a conductive-convective shell (thick shell) is more likely. Although our study does not provide firm conclusion regarding the thickness of Europas ice shell, our work indicates that Valhalla-class multiring basins on Europa may provide robust constraints on the thickness of Europas ice shell.
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The discovery of a large putative impact crater buried beneath Hiawatha Glacier along the margin of the northwestern Greenland Ice Sheet has reinvigorated interest into the nature of large impacts into thick ice masses. This circular structure is relatively shallow and exhibits a small central uplift, whereas a peak-ring morphology is expected. This discrepancy may be due to long-term and ongoing subglacial erosion but may also be explained by a relatively recent impact through the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is expected to alter the final crater morphology. Here we model crater formation using hydrocode simulations, varying pre-impact ice thickness and impactor composition over crystalline target rock. We find that an ice-sheet thickness of 1.5 or 2 km results in a crater morphology that is consistent with the present morphology of this structure. Further, an ice sheet that thick substantially inhibits ejection of rocky material, which might explain the absence of rocky ejecta in most existing Greenland deep ice cores if the impact occurred during the late Pleistocene. From the present morphology of the putative Hiawatha impact crater alone, we cannot distinguish between an older crater formed by a pre-Pleistocene impact into ice-free bedrock or a younger, Pleistocene impact into locally thick ice, but based on our modeling we conclude that latter scenario is possible.
Physical processing of Europan surface water ice by thermal relaxation, charged particle bombardment, and possible cryovolcanic activity can alter the percentage of the crystalline form of water ice compared to that of the amorphous form of water ice (the crystallinity) on Europas surface. The timescales over which amorphous water ice is thermally transformed to crystalline water ice at Europan surface temperatures suggests that the water ice there should be primarily in the crystalline form, however, surface bombardment by charged particles induced by Jupiters magnetic field, and vapor deposition of water ice from Europan plumes, can produce amorphous water ice surface deposits on short timescales. The purpose of this investigation is to determine whether the Europan surface water ice crystallinity derived from ground-based spectroscopic measurements is in agreement with the crystallinity expected based on temperature and radiation modeling. Using a 1D thermophysical model of Europas surface, we calculate a full-disk crystallinity of Europas leading hemisphere by incorporating the thermal relaxation of amorphous to crystalline water ice and the degradation of crystalline to amorphous water ice by irradiation. Concurrently, we derive the full-disk crystallinity of Europas leading hemisphere using a comparison of near-infrared ground-based spectral observations from Grundy et al. (1999), Busarev et al. (2018), and the Apache Point Observatory with laboratory spectra from Mastrapa et al. (2018) and the Ice Spectroscopy Lab at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We calculate a modeled crystallinity significantly higher than crystallinities derived from ground-based observations and laboratory spectra. This discrepancy may be a result of geophysical processes, such as by vapor-deposited plume material, or it may arise from assumptions and uncertainties in the crystallinity calculations.
We explore the origin of a ~280 m wide, heavily eroded circular depression in Palm Valley, Northern Territory, Australia using gravity, morphological, and mineralogical data collected from a field survey in September 2009. From the analysis of the survey, we debate probable formation processes, namely erosion and impact, as no evidence of volcanism is found in the region or reported in the literature. We argue that the depression was not formed by erosion and consider an impact origin, although we acknowledge that diagnostics required to identify it as such (e.g. meteorite fragments, shatter cones, shocked quartz) are lacking, leaving the formation process uncertain. We encourage further discussion of the depressions origin and stress a need to develop recognition criteria that can help identify small, ancient impact craters. We also encourage systematic searches for impact craters in Central Australia as it is probable that many more remain to be discovered.
The identification of impact craters on planetary surfaces provides important information about their geological history. Most studies have relied on individual analysts who map and identify craters and interpret crater statistics. However, little work has been done to determine how the counts vary as a function of technique, terrain, or between researchers. Furthermore, several novel internet-based projects ask volunteers with little to no training to identify craters, and it was unclear how their results compare against the typical professional researcher. To better understand the variation among experts and to compare with volunteers, eight professional researchers have identified impact features in two separate regions of the moon. Small craters (diameters ranging from 10 m to 500 m) were measured on a lunar mare region and larger craters (100s m to a few km in diameter) were measured on both lunar highlands and maria. Volunteer data were collected for the small craters on the mare. Our comparison shows that the level of agreement among experts depends on crater diameter, number of craters per diameter bin, and terrain type, with differences of up to $simpm45%$. We also found artifacts near the minimum crater diameter that was studied. These results indicate that caution must be used in most cases when interpreting small variations in crater size-frequency distributions and for craters $le10$ pixels across. Because of the natural variability found, projects that emphasize many people identifying craters on the same area and using a consensus result are likely to yield the most consistent and robust information.
Metallic bodies that were the cores of differentiated bodies are sources of iron meteorites and are considered to have formed early in the terrestrial planet region before migrating to the main asteroid belt. Surface temperatures and mutual collision velocities differ between the terrestrial planet region and the main asteroid belt. To investigate the dependence of crater shape on temperature, velocity and impactor density, we conducted impact experiments on room- and low-temperature iron meteorite and iron alloy targets (carbon steel SS400 and iron-nickel alloy) with velocities of 0.8-7 km/s. The projectiles were rock cylinders and metal spheres and cylinders. Oblique impact experiments were also conducted using stainless steel projectiles and SS400 steel targets which produced more prominent radial patterns downrange at room temperature than at low temperature. Crater diameters and depths were measured and compiled using non-dimensional parameter sets based on the $pi$-group crater scaling relations. Two-dimensional numerical simulations were conducted using iSALE-2D code with the Johnson-Cook strength model. Both experimental and numerical results showed that the crater depth and diameter decreased with decreasing temperature, which strengthened the target, and with decreasing impact velocity. The decreasing tendency was more prominent for depth than for diameter, i.e., the depth/diameter ratio was smaller for the low temperature and low velocity conditions. The depth/diameter ratios of craters formed by rock projectiles were shallower than those of craters formed by metallic projectiles. Our results imply that the frequency distribution of the depth/diameter ratio for craters on the surface of metallic bodies may be used as a probe of the past impact environment of metallic bodies.
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