Survival of fossilised diatoms and forams in hypervelocity impacts with peak shock pressures in the 1–19 GPa range

Abstract

Previously it has been shown that diatom fossils embedded in ice could survive impacts at speeds of up to 5kms−1 and peak shock pressures up to 12GPa. Here we confirm these results using a different technique, with diatoms carried in liquid water suspensions at impact speeds of 2–6kms−1. These correspond to peak shock pressures of 3.8–19.8GPa. We also report on the results of similar experiments using forams, at impact speeds of 4.67kms−1 (when carried in water) and 4.73kms−1 (when carried in ice), corresponding to peak shock pressures of 11.6 and 13.1GPa respectively. In all cases we again find survival of recognisable fragments, with mean fragment size of order 20–25µm. We compare our results to the peak shock pressures that ejecta from giant impacts on the Earth would experience if it subsequently impacted the Moon. We find that 98% of impacts of terrestrial ejecta on the Moon would have experienced peak pressures less than 20GPa if the ejecta were a soft rock (sandstone). This falls to 82% of meteorites if the ejecta were a hard rock (granite). This assumes impacts on a solid lunar surface. If we approximate the surface as a loose regolith, over 99% of the impacts involve peak shock pressures below 20GPa. Either way, the results show that a significant fraction of terrestrial meteorites impacting the Moon will do so with peak shock pressures which in our experiments permit the survival of recognisable fossil fragments.