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At least 37 records · Page 2

Twenty-Fourth Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Part 3: N-Z

Papers from the conference are presented, and the topics covered include the following: planetary geology, meteorites, planetary composition, meteoritic composition, planetary craters, lunar craters, meteorite craters, petrology, petrography, volcanology, planetary crusts, geochronology, geomorphism, mineralogy, lithology, planetary atmospheres, impact melts, K-T Boundary Layer, volcanoes, planetary evolution, tectonics, planetary mapping, asteroids, comets, lunar soil, lunar rocks, lunar geology, metamorphism, chemical composition, meteorite craters, planetary mantles, and space exploration.

Source record↗

A classification of impact craters

Planetary and lunar meteorite craters classification according to radius logarithm to base ten, covering diameter size from 2 microns to 2000 km

Hoerz, F.↗

Candidate areas for in situ ancient lunar materials

Results of high-speed impact cratering in quartz sand targets are reported. Dissection of the ejecta plumes of the craters revealed that they are relatively thin conical sheets. Further dissection showed the relationship between individual particle trajectories and the ejecta plume. A model of cratering, based on the experiments, was used to explain the inverted stratigraphy previously described in laboratory impact craters and in meteorite craters. Mantling of secondary craters in peripheral parts of the continuous deposits of Tycho Crater and in the downrange parts of certain Tycho secondary crater clusters is accounted for by the model. Model results indicate extensive mixing by secondary cratering when basin ejecta is emplaced. The study reveals certain areas on the lunar uplands that have been relatively uncratered by basin secondaries and unmantled by secondary crater debris surges and that may represent in situ ancient lunar materials.

Oberbeck, V. R.↗

Lunar impact craters

Topography and evolution of lunar craters - meteoritic impact - selenography

TOPOGRAPHY↗

Meteorite impact - A suggestion for the origin of some stream channels on Mars

The appearance of many streamlike features on Mars indicates the formation of channels through erosion by liquid water. We suggest that streams originating at meteorite crater boundaries are the result of impact which released subsurface water trapped below the Martian surface by a layer of permafrost. Features indicating surface erosion are the presence of alluvial plains at the downstream ends of channels, an increase in stream width with distance from the meteorite craters, and a direct correlation among several examples between crater diameter and stream length. Water released from the subsurface is preferred over rainfall as a mechanism for the origin of stream channels originating from craters on Mars.

Maxwell, T. A.↗

Lunar Science Conference, 6th, Houston, Tex., March 17-21, 1975, Proceedings. Volume 2 - Chemical and isotopic studies

The chemical compositions of lunar rocks and soils are examined, taking into account sulfur abundances and distributions in mare basalts and their source magmas, lithophile trace and major elements in Apollo 16 and 17 lunar samples, the role of vaporization processes in lunar rock formation, chemical studies of the lunar regolith with emphasis on zirconium and hafnium, a model for the lunar anorthositic gabbro, and trace-element chemistry and reducing capacity of size fractions from the Apollo 16 regolith. Other topics considered are related to lunar chronology, volatile meteoritic elements, isotopic studies, light element geochemistry, and agglutinates and regolith processes. Attention is given to meteoritic material in four terrestrial meteorite craters, the state of meteoritic material on the moon, volatile elements in Allende inclusions, oxygen isotope fractionation in Apollo 17 rocks, cosmogenic isotope production in Apollo deep-core samples, and the effects of exposure conditions on cosmic-ray records in lunar rocks.

Merrill, R. B.↗

The origin of lunar craters

A review is presented of four hypotheses concerning the origin of lunar craters, taking into account the bubble hypothesis, the tide hypothesis, the volcanic hypothesis, and the impact hypothesis. A description is given of a series of experiments on impact craters and studies of a meteorite crater in Arizona are considered. It is concluded that the typical lunar craters can best be interpreted as impact craters.

Wegener, A.↗

Impact metamorphism

Impact metamophism studied for diagnostic criteria to distinguish meteoritic craters from other circular structures

METAMORPHISM↗

Asteroid Geophysics and Quantifying the Impact Hazard

Probably the major challenge in understanding, quantifying, and mitigating the effects of an impact on Earth is understanding the nature of the impactor. Of the roughly 25 meteorite craters on the Earth that have associated meteorites, all but one was produced by an iron meteorite and only one was produced by a stony meteorite. Equally important, even meteorites of a given chemical class produce a wide variety of behavior in the atmosphere. This is because they show considerable diversity in their mechanical properties which have a profound influence on the behavior of meteorites during atmospheric passage. Some stony meteorites are weak and do not reach the surface or reach the surface as thousands of relatively harmless pieces. Some stony meteorites roll into a maximum drag configuration and are strong enough to remain intact so a large single object reaches the surface. Others have high concentrations of water that may facilitate disruption. However, while meteorite falls and meteorites provide invaluable information on the physical nature of the objects entering the atmosphere, there are many unknowns concerning size and scale that can only be determined by from the pre-atmospheric properties of the asteroids. Their internal structure, their thermal properties, their internal strength and composition, will all play a role in determining the behavior of the object as it passes through the atmosphere, whether it produces an airblast and at what height, and the nature of the impact and amount and distribution of ejecta.

stony meteorite↗

Circularity of Martian craters.

A modified method of calculating crater circularity based on the average deviation of crater radius from mean radius is presented and used to calculate circularity of Martian craters. Calculation of the circularity indices of over 200 Martian craters yields values similar to circularity indices of terrestrial meteorite craters and different from indices of terrestrial calderas.

Oberbeck, V. R.↗

Martian doublet craters

Monte Carlo cratering simulation model to show nonrandomness of formation of Mars tangential meteorite craters

Aoyagi, M.↗

Fluvial erosion of impact craters: Earth and Mars

Geomorphic studies of impact structures in central Australia are being used to understand the complexities of fluvial dissection in the heavily cratered terrains of Mars. At Henbury, Northern Territory, approximately 12 small meteorite craters have interacted with a semiarid drainage system. The detailed mapping of the geologic and structural features at Henbury allowed this study to concentrate on degradational landforms. The breaching of crater rims by gullies was facilitated by the northward movement of sheetwash along an extensive pediment surface extending from the Bacon Range. South-facing crater rims have been preferentially breached because gullies on those sides were able to tap the largest amounts of runoff. At crater 6 a probable rim-gully system has captured the headward reaches of a pre-impact stream channel. The interactive history of impacts and drainage development is critical to understanding the relationships in the heavily cratered uplands of Mars. Whereas Henbury craters are younger than 4700 yrs. B.P., the Gosses Bluff structure formed about 130 million years ago. The bluff is essentially an etched central peak composed of resistant sandstone units. Fluvial erosion of this structure is also discussed.

Baker, V. R.↗