Impact Cratering Studies Research Articles

2022 Joint Barringer Medal for Kai Wünnemann and Gareth S. Collins

2022 Joint Barringer Medal for Kai Wünnemann and Gareth S. Collins

Progresses and prospects of impact crater studies

Progresses and prospects of impact crater studies

Field gamma ray spectrometry as a diagnostic tool for the assessment of hypothetical melt rocks from the Maâdna structure (Talemzane, Algeria): Implications for the crater formation process

AbstractAmong all geophysical methods, gamma ray spectrometry is not widely used in impact cratering studies, despite its efficiency in the investigation of physical/chemical changes in rocks. The application of gamma ray spectrometry method to data from the Maâdna crater is aimed at detection and verification of the presumed impact‐derived melt rocks or breccias, as well as discussing its implications on process of formation. The resulting information also demonstrates the potential of these specific data regarding our general understanding of impact cratering, while a few case studies have been reported in the literature to date within the impact community. Maâdna crater is dated at 2.6–3.1 Ma of ~1.7 km and is emplaced in Upper‐Cretaceous to Eocene limestones of the northern part of the Algerian Saharan platform. Although originally accepted as an impact crater, its origin is still controversial. Several thousands of field measurements were taken using a field portable gamma ray spectrometer. The measurements can be equivalently expressed by up to about 42 km footpath recordings in real‐time ground acquisitions, covering the entire structure and surrounding areas beyond the crater edge. The collected data included the total count (Tc) and the concentrations of the radionuclides calculated in wt% for K and in ppm for U and Th. The spectra rates recorded inside and outside the crater did not exceed the maximum average concentrations corresponding to 75.3 Cps, 4.94 ppm, 10.5 ppm, and 1.79 wt% for Tc, U, Th, and K, respectively. The database was processed using various gridding data methods, from which the minimum curvature was adopted as it provides a powerful visualization and interpretation of the anomalous distribution of radioactive elements and their corresponding ratios maps. In addition, an improved statistical analysis was carried out in order to extract a maximum of information about the radiometric response of each rock unit. This analysis consisted of a series of multiple linear regression, mean differencing, Q–Q (quantile–quantile) plots, and ternary mapping. Maps and plots of various models allowed us to examine the background variability in the distribution of K, Th, and U concentrations at the surface of the three distinctive litho‐type zones in the surveyed area, which are the central part, the crater edge, and the outside of the crater including the wadi deposits. Observed results of different radiometric responses clearly reflect the effect of various lithological units, especially in the areas with high K concentration. Note that this positive K‐anomaly has been observed in recent deposits that fill the Maâdna depression or external wadi beds. In contrast, the surrounding limestone rocks showed lower levels of radioelement concentrations. Relevant similarities found between the radiometric signatures of the Neogene formations inside and outside the crater can be considered as a strong argument to exclude preferential radionuclides enrichment caused by an impact event. Consequently, the natural origin of radioactive sources can be easily explained. Compared to other radiometric signatures documented on proven impact structures, the Maâdna structure has been notably discussed in the context of a diapiric hypothesis rather than a meteoritic one. Moreover, the methods used here contribute to our knowledge of the regional sedimentary history in terms of natural radioactivity.

Morphometric Study of Craters on Saturn's Moon Rhea.

Morphometric studies of impact craters on icy moons can be used to understand modification of crater topography. Several processes (e.g., viscous relaxation, ejecta deposition, repeated and overlapping impacts) act to shallow crater depth and relax the crater wall slope to similar or varying extents. Resolving these processes can help constrain the interior structure and surface properties of icy moons. Here, using morphometric measurements of craters on Rhea, we aim to constrain the processes that led to the observed crater population. We measured crater diameter, depth, and wall slope, as well as overall crater morphology (e.g., simple versus complex craters). Our results indicate that there exists a linear correlation between impact crater depth-to-diameter ratio and crater wall slope. This may suggest that the dominant modification process on Rhea is one that affects both properties simultaneously, which supports past heating events as the primary post-impact modification process. Additionally, the simple-to-complex crater transition for Rhea was found to be 12 ± 2 km, which is consistent with reported transition diameters for comparably sized icy bodies, indicating similar surface properties. A transition to shallower crater depths for large complex craters was not documented, indicating the absence of a rheological transition at depth in Rhea’s icy lithosphere, which may support the interpretation that Rhea is not fully differentiated.

Is the Diameter of Herschel Crater, Mimas, an Outlier? A Mathematical Framework for Analyzing Planetary Feature Size‐Frequency Distribution Anomalies

AbstractMany features on planetary bodies follow a distinct size‐frequency distribution (SFD), and there are practically always outliers. In impact crater studies, that SFD can be approximated with a power‐law, and the nature of power‐laws is there are often lone, singular largest features. An open question is whether these largest features are truly anomalous, or whether they emerge as a statistical feature of a large number of finite samples drawn from stochastic probability distributions, with significant implications for the population that formed them. Here, this question is explored by testing Mimas' largest crater, Herschel. The framework developed answers the question with two main tests, and both show Herschel is not an outlier. This is applied to other planetary bodies, where the null hypothesis is still not rejected. The framework developed is agnostic toward the probability distribution used and can be applied to many other features in planetary science.

Synthesis and Characterization of Polypyrrole-Coated Anthracene Microparticles: A New Synthetic Mimic for Polyaromatic Hydrocarbon-Based Cosmic Dust.

Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are found throughout the universe. The ubiquity of these organic molecules means that they are of considerable interest in the context of cosmic dust, which typically travels at hypervelocities (>1 km s–1) within our solar system. However, studying such fast-moving micrometer-sized particles in laboratory-based experiments requires suitable synthetic mimics. Herein, we use ball-milling to produce microparticles of anthracene, which is the simplest member of the PAH family. Size control can be achieved by varying the milling time in the presence of a suitable anionic commercial polymeric dispersant (Morwet D-425). These anthracene microparticles are then coated with a thin overlayer of polypyrrole (PPy), which is an air-stable organic conducting polymer. The uncoated and PPy-coated anthracene microparticles are characterized in terms of their particle size, surface morphology, and chemical structure using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, laser diffraction, aqueous electrophoresis, FT-IR spectroscopy, Raman microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Moreover, such microparticles can be accelerated up to hypervelocities using a light gas gun. Finally, studies of impact craters indicate carbon debris, so they are expected to serve as the first synthetic mimic for PAH-based cosmic dust.

An Automatic Detection Algorithm for Small Craters Based on Morphology

Study of impact craters on planetary surfaces has revealed secrets of the evolution of planets. Identifying craters on planetary surfaces has become fundamental in planetary researches, whereas time-consuming, e.g. months to years to collect crater database. Small craters, including a large number of secondary craters, have shown its importance in researches of planetary sciences, whose database requires construction. Whereas, few studies concentrate on detection of small craters. In this paper, the writer adopts morphology-based algorithm to detect and localize the crater candidates effectively. The methodology has shown its effectiveness by detecting 869 small crater candidates in a region covering 37500 × 56250 m2 on the Martian surface, with a precision of 79.29 %. Among those true positive detections, 91.25 % are craters with a diameter less than 1 km (not included). Compared with existing automatic detection methods on planetary impact craters, the method proposed in this paper performs better on detection of small craters, and it fills the blank of detection of craters with a diameter less than 200 m. Focusing on detection of small craters, it can provide a tool for quickly generating datasets for planetary scientific research in a targeted manner.

Conference report: Large Meteorite Impacts and Planetary Evolution VI

Conference report: Large Meteorite Impacts and Planetary Evolution VI

Prospects for an ancient dynamo and modern crustal remanent magnetism on Venus

Venus lacks an internally generated magnetic field today. Whether one existed in the past is unknown, but critical to atmospheric evolution and potential habitability. Canonical models assume the core of Venus is cooling too slowly for convection and thus a magnetic dynamo to occur today. Core/mantle heat flow is suppressed in these models after a putative transition in mantle dynamics associated with widespread, volcanic resurfacing. However, recent studies of impact craters and other surface features support more steady heat loss over geologic time. Precipitation of MgO and/or SiO2 from the core can also drive compositional convection even with slow cooling. Here we reevaluate the likelihood that Venus has an “Earth-like” (at least partially liquid and chemically homogeneous) core using numerical simulations of the coupled atmosphere–surface–mantle–core evolution. An Earth-like core is only compatible with the modern lack of a dynamo if the thermal conductivity of core material is towards the higher end of modern estimates (i.e., >100 W m−1 K−1). If lower estimates like ∼40–50 W m−1 K−1 are actually correct, then we favor recent proposals that the core has completely solidified or preserved primordial stratification. Any simulation initialized with a homogeneous, liquid core predicts a global magnetic field with Earth-like surface strength for >2–3 billion years after accretion—consistent with all available observations—and also sporadic activity within the surface age while temperatures remain below the Curie point of magnetite. Therefore, future spacecraft missions should prioritize the first-ever magnetometer measurements below the ionosphere to search for crustal remanent magnetism.

Introduction to the special issue

This special issue is the result of efforts by the Planetary Crater Consortium to engage the crater and broader planetary science community regarding the state of knowledge about impact craters. Impact craters are the most abundant landform on almost all solid surfaces in the solar system, observed on all bodies imaged closely to date except Jupiter's moon Io. Crater populations form the only known metric for modeling the surface ages of planetary bodies, and they are used to inform the underlying dynamics of the objects that generate them and the physics of the impacts themselves. Individual craters are used to understand local geology and geophysics, the environment in which they exist, and other important processes on the bodies upon which they form. In May 2015, the first-of-its-kind “Workshop on Issues in Crater Studies and the Dating of Planetary Surfaces” was convened at The Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab, where 50 community members presented talks and participated in discussions about the history of impact crater studies, where the field currently stands, and the most pressing questions and issues that are critical to advancing the field. This special issue arose from that conference. In this volume are 14 papers that span a wide range of topics. There are three review papers describing the state of knowledge of secondary impact craters, how large a counting surface needs to be for adequate crater statistics, and a survey of techniques and results of crater depth measurements for the last >50 years on solar system bodies. There are also new science papers, detailing crater morphometry and new methods and recommendations to measure them, terrestrial crater field work, models for types of craters and related features on the Moon and Mars, and implications of crater studies to Martian climate. Finally, there are three papers that describe new techniques and methods to analyze craters: a fast and robust way to determine crater saturation, a method to determine secondary crater clusters from those produced by atmospheric fragmentation, and a re-examination of classic size-frequency distribution techniques with new recommendations on how to display and analyze crater populations. Readers and editors alike thank the contributing authors and reviewers for their hard work on this valuable volume on impact craters. The editors and authors hope that the work in this volume will help pave the way for future research and studies into impact craters for many years to come.

Measuring impact crater depth throughout the solar system

AbstractOne important, almost ubiquitous, tool for understanding the surfaces of solid bodies throughout the solar system is the study of impact craters. While measuring a distribution of crater diameters and locations is an important tool for a wide variety of studies, so too is measuring a crater's “depth.” Depth can inform numerous studies including the strength of a surface and modification rates in the local environment. There is, however, no standard data set, definition, or technique to perform this data‐gathering task, and the abundance of different definitions of “depth” and methods for estimating that quantity can lead to misunderstandings in and of the literature. In this review, we describe a wide variety of data sets and methods to analyze those data sets that have been, are currently, or could be used to derive different types of crater depth measurements. We also recommend certain nomenclature in doing so to help standardize practice in the field. We present a review section of all crater depths that have been published on different solar system bodies which shows how the field has evolved through time and how some common assumptions might not be wholly accurate. We conclude with several recommendations for researchers which could help different data sets to be more easily understood and compared.

An Iterative Black Top Hat Transform Algorithm for the Volume Estimation of Lunar Impact Craters

Volume estimation is a fundamental problem in the morphometric study of impact craters. The Top Hat Transform function (TH), a gray-level image processing technique has already been applied to gray-level Digital Elevation Model (DEM) to extract peaks and pits in a nonuniform background. In this study, an updated Black Top Hat Transform function (BTH) was applied to quantify the volume of lunar impact craters on the Moon. We proposed an iterative BTH (IBTH) where the window size and slope factor were linearly increased to extract craters of different sizes, along with a novel application of automatically adjusted threshold to remove noise. Volume was calculated as the sum of the crater depth multiplied by the cell area. When tested against the simulated dataset, IBTH achieved an overall relative accuracy of 95%, in comparison with only 65% for BTH. When applied to the Chang’E DEM and LOLA DEM, IBTH not only minimized the relative error of the total volume estimates, but also revealed the detailed spatial distribution of the crater depth. Therefore, the highly automated IBTH algorithm with few input parameters is ideally suited for estimating the volume of craters on the Moon on a global scale, which is important for understanding the early processes of impact erosion.

Remote sensing of terrestrial impact craters: The TanDEM‐X digital elevation model

AbstractWith the TanDEM‐X digital elevation model (DEM), the terrestrial solid surface is globally mapped with unprecedented accuracy. TanDEM‐X is a German X‐band radar mission whose two identical satellites have been operated in single‐pass interferometer configuration over several years. The acquired data are processed to yield a global DEM with 12 m independent posting and relative vertical accuracies of better than 2 m and 4 m in moderate and mountainous terrain, respectively. This DEM provides new opportunities for space‐borne remote‐sensing studies of the entire sample of terrestrial impact craters. In addition, it represents an interesting repository to aid in the search for new impact crater candidates. We have used the TanDEM‐X DEM to investigate the current set of confirmed impact structures. For a subsample of the craters, including small, midsized, and large structures, we compared the results with those from other DEMs. This quantitative analysis demonstrates the excellent quality of the TanDEM‐X elevation data. Our findings help to estimate what can be gained by using the TanDEM‐X DEM in impact crater studies. They may also be beneficial in identifying the regions and morphologies where the search for currently unknown impact structures might be most promising.

Scaling and reproducibility of craters produced at the Experimental Projectile Impact Chamber (EPIC), Centro de Astrobiología, Spain

AbstractThe Experimental Projectile Impact Chamber (EPIC) is a specially designed facility for the study of processes related to wet‐target (e.g., “marine”) impacts. It consists of a 7 m wide, funnel‐shaped test bed, and a 20.5 mm caliber compressed N2 gas gun. The target can be unconsolidated or liquid. The gas gun can launch 20 mm projectiles of various solid materials under ambient atmospheric pressure and at various angles from the horizontal. To test the functionality and quality of obtained results by EPIC, impacts were performed into dry beach sand targets with two different projectile materials; ceramic Al2O3 (max. velocity 290 m s−1) and Delrin (max. velocity 410 m s−1); 23 shots used a quarter‐space setting (19 normal, 4 at 53° from horizontal) and 14 were in a half‐space setting (13 normal, 1 at 53°). The experiments were compared with numerical simulations using the iSALE code. Differences were seen between the nondisruptive Al2O3 (ceramic) and the disruptive Delrin (polymer) projectiles in transient crater development. All final crater dimensions, when plotted in scaled form, agree reasonably well with the results of other studies of impacts into granular materials. We also successfully validated numerical models of vertical and oblique impacts in sand against the experimental results, as well as demonstrated that the EPIC quarter‐space experiments are a reasonable approximation for half‐space experiments. Altogether, the combined evaluation of experiments and numerical simulations support the usefulness of the EPIC in impact cratering studies.

Micron‐scale hypervelocity impact craters: Dependence of crater ellipticity and rim morphology on impact trajectory, projectile size, velocity, and shape

AbstractThe interstellar collector on NASA's Stardust mission captured many particles from sources other than the interstellar dust stream. Impact trajectory may provide a means of discriminating between these different sources, and thus identifying/eliminating candidate interstellar particles. The collector's aerogel preserved a clear record of particle impact trajectory from the inclination and direction of the resultant tracks. However, the collector also contained aluminum foils and, although impact crater studies to date suggest only the most inclined impacts (>45° from normal) produce crater morphologies that indicate trajectory (i.e., distinctly elliptical), these studies have been restricted to much larger (mm and above) scales than are relevant for Stardust (μm). It is unknown how oblique impact crater morphology varies as a function of length scale, and therefore how well Stardust craters preserve details of impactor trajectory. Here, we present data from a series of impact experiments, together with complementary hydrocode modeling, that examine how crater morphology changes with impact angles for different‐sized projectiles. We find that, for our smallest spherical projectiles (2 μm diameter), the ellipticity and rim morphology provide evidence of their inclined trajectory from as little as 15° from normal incidence. This is most likely a result of strain rate hardening in the target metal. Further experiments and models find that variation in velocity and impactor shape complicate these trends, but that rim morphology remains useful in determining impact direction (where the angle of impact is >20° from normal) and may help identify candidate interstellar particle craters on the Stardust collector.

In situ flash X-ray observation of projectile penetration processes and crater cavity growth in porous gypsum target analogous to low-density asteroids

Recent studies of impact craters formed on low-density asteroids led to the proposal of a new crater formation mechanism dominated by pore collapse and compaction. Thus, it is important to study the crater formation process associated with the projectile penetration on porous cohesive targets. Laboratory impact experiments were conducted for a porous gypsum target with porosity of 50%, and flash X-rays were used to visualize the interior of the target for in situ observation of crater formation and projectile penetration. Spherical projectiles made of three different materials, stainless steel, aluminum, and nylon were impacted at 1.9–2.4km/s (low-velocity impact) and 5.6–6.4km/s (high-velocity impact) by using a two-stage light-gas gun. Two imaging plates were used to take two X-ray images at a different delay time from the impact moment for one shot. Two types of crater cavity shape were found on the porous gypsum target, that is, penetration holes or hemispherical cavities, depending on the projectile size and density, and the impact velocity. The drag coefficient of a projectile was determined by measuring the penetration depth changing with time, and we found that it was closely related to the crater cavity shape: it was about 0.9 for a penetration hole, while it was 2.3–3.9 for a hemispherical cavity. This large value for a hemispherical cavity could have been caused by the deformation or the disruption of the projectile. The cratering efficiency, ρtVcr(t)/mp, was found to have a power law relationship to the scaling time for crater growth, πt=vit/rp, where vi is the impact velocity, rp is the projectile radius, and t is the time after the impact, and all data for stainless steel and aluminum projectiles merged completely and could be fitted by a power-law equation of ρtVcr(t)/mp=2.69×10-1πt1.10. Furthermore, the scaled crater volume, πV=Vcr_finalρt/mp, where Vcr_final is the final crater cavity volume, ρt is the target density, and mp is the projectile mass, was successfully fitted by a power law equation when another scaling parameter was used for the crater formation in strength regime, πY=Yt/ρtvi2, where Yt is the target material strength, as follows: πV=1.69×10-1πY-0.51. As a result, the crater formed on porous gypsum was revealed to be more than one order of magnitude smaller than that formed on basalt. Based on our experimental results, which visualize how crater cavities on porous cohesive materials grow with projectile penetration, we are able to discuss compression and excavation processes during crater formation quantitatively. This observation enables us to investigate and revise numerical models and crater scaling laws for high-velocity impacts into porous cohesive materials.

Subsurface damage from oblique impacts into low‐impedance layers

Layered planetary surfaces occur ubiquitously in the solar system, where sedimentary sequences or icy layers overlay crystalline bedrock. Previous experimental studies investigated how the presence of weak layer overlying a strong basement affects crater morphology, subsurface damage and soft‐sediment compression. Numerical studies generally focus on the final morphology as a function of thicknesses and burial depths of weak layers. In field studies of impact craters, the shock state of minerals is a key metric. Here, we evaluate the effect of a surficial low‐impedance layer on peak pressure magnitudes and consequent damage extent in the competent substrate. Laboratory experiments coupled with 3D CTH models of oblique (30° from horizontal) hypervelocity impacts at laboratory and planetary scales show that surface layers with a thickness on the order of the projectile diameter shield the underlying surface and absorb/scatter ∼70% of the impact energy. Numerical simulations reveal that surficial layers reduce peak pressure magnitudes within the subsurface by ∼60–70%, while damage in the substrate is due to shear failure. Sedimentary layers are more efficient shields than icy layers, but both reduce the extent of subsurface damage and the resulting shock levels recorded by minerals. These results indicate that a thin surficial low impedance layer mitigates the expression of shocked minerals in the substrate even when a structural response is still observed.

Climate-driven deposition of water ice and the formation of mounds in craters in Mars’ north polar region

This paper explores the origins and evolution of ice-rich interior mounds found within craters of the north polar region of Mars. We present a systematic study of impact craters above 65°N, and identify 18 craters that have interior mounds. At least 11 of these mounds are composed of water ice and geometric similarities suggest that dune-covered mounds may also have a water ice core. The mounds are found in the deeper craters in the north polar area and we suggest that these form a specific microclimate favorable for mound initiation and growth. It is likely that at least seven of the mounds have evolved as individual outliers, rather than conterminous with the main polar cap. Our observations suggest that the mounds are built up by atmospheric deposition, similar to that of the north polar layered deposits. Using a combination of remote sensing techniques enabling topographic, spectral, radar and image data analyses, we have documented the morphology, composition and stratigraphy of selected mounds. We advance and test four hypotheses for formation of these mounds: artesian outpouring from a deep aquifer, hydrothermal activation of ground ice, remnants of a more extensive polar cap, and atmospheric deposition on ice caps in meteorologically isolated locations. We propose that during periods when the perihelion was located in northern summer (most recently 10–25ka before present) the microclimate in these craters retarded the sublimation of CO2 and water ice in northern spring, thus creating a cold trap for volatiles released as the seasonal cap retreated. This created a thick enough deposit of water ice to withstand sublimation over the summer and initiate a positive feedback leading to mound-building. Mounds without complete dune-cover may be in dynamic equilibrium with the ambient climate and show evidence of both present-day and past periods of erosion and aggradation. We conclude that the water ice mounds formed in deep impact craters in Mars’ north polar region may contain sensitive records of past polar climate that may enhance our understanding of the CO2–H2O system in the polar regions.

Electrical Imaging of Impact Structures

Electrical imaging provides important subsurface information for the construction of hypervelocity impact models. We here provide an overview and evaluation of the current electrical imaging methods used in impact cratering studies. Although apparent resistivity models are commonly used in the geoelectrical imaging of impact structures, the reliability of these models has not hitherto been determined. In order to assess these imaging approaches in impact cratering, we investigate for the first time the discrepancies between the apparent resistivity and true resistivity models of an impact structure. To this end, we present (1) a new true resistivity model of the Araguainha impact structure in central Brazil by applying L2-norm inversion to previously published data, (2) apparent resistivity model of the impact structure, and (3) models obtained from different stages of the iterative tomographic inversions. Our results show that changes in vertical resistivity gradient are significantly better defined in the true resistivity models than in the apparent resistivity model. On the basis of these results, we outline a new approach that true resistivity models can be effectively assessed by applying both L1- and L2-norm inversion schemes together with the monitoring of intermediate models from iterative inversion. The results of our study highlight the importance of tomographic inversion of resistivity data in impact cratering studies, and they provide a data modeling framework and foundation for cost-effective subsurface imaging of impact structures in the future.

Contributions of gamma‐ray spectrometry to terrestrial impact crater studies: The example of Serra da Cangalha, northeastern Brazil

Several geophysical methods have been used for decades for the identification and exploration of impact craters. Most of them are based on seismic, potential fields and electrical data, focusing on exploration of anomalies caused by changes in physical properties or by structures associated with the formation of the crater. Gamma‐ray spectrometry is usually not mentioned among the geophysical methods employed in crater studies, although it is known that impact cratering processes cause a number of physical/chemical changes in the country rocks. These changes include the remobilization of hydrothermal fluids which directly modify the composition of target rocks and, subsidiarily, of soils related to these rocks. Therefore, the distribution of radioactive elementsK, Th and Uhas the potential to map such modifications. We present the analysis of gamma‐ray signatures at the Serra da Cangalha impact structure, located in northeastern Brazil, using methods for enhancingKanomalies and also the overall gamma‐ray signatures. These results provide valuable information on the distinct zones within the crater and might contribute to the understanding of hydrothermal enrichment processes produced as a result of the impact event.