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Impact. The Solar System. Nine Eight Planets Over 170,000 catalogued asteroids ???? Centaurs ???? KBO’s (including one disgruntled ex-planet) Millions of Comets. Impact Mechanics. Energy of motion turns into heat 10-m rock at 20 km/sec = 150 kt = 10 Hiroshima atomic bombs
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The Solar System • Nine Eight Planets • Over 170,000 catalogued asteroids • ???? Centaurs • ???? KBO’s (including one disgruntled ex-planet) • Millions of Comets
Impact Mechanics • Energy of motion turns into heat • 10-m rock at 20 km/sec = 150 kt = 10 Hiroshima atomic bombs • Energy released in seconds • Impacting object destroyed • Crater 20-30 times diameter of impacting object • Crater is round regardless of approach path
The Impact Process • Atmospheric Entry • Contact-Compression • Penetration – Transient Crater • Excavation • Collapse
Comets and Planetary History • Superposition • Crater Saturation • Crater Degradation
Recognizing Craters on Earth • Craters rapidly destroyed by erosion • Circular geologic structures • Impact melts • Impact breccias • Shock metamorphism • Shatter cones