Physics
Scientific paper
May 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agusm.p33a..03c&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #P33A-03
Physics
5420 Impact Phenomena, Cratering (6022, 8136), 6221 Europa
Scientific paper
Europa's enigmatic chaos terrain probably represents breakage of the brittle surface ice and exposure of fluid material. Proposed explanations have focussed on endogenic mechanisms and energy sources, but all are disputed. Crust-penetrating bolide impacts are an alternative mechanism by which chaos terrain could be produced, and primary evidence for this hypothesis comes from impact experiments. Additional insights come from analysis of the size-frequency distributions of chaos areas and craters, which combined appear to represent a unified impact production function for Europa. The impact size-frequency distribution at Europa is predicted to match that at Ganymede and Callisto (e.g. Schenk et al. 2004), but this has not been shown because of the lack of large impact craters. If, however, chaos areas are the expression of large impacts on Europa, then the impact database for Europa is dramatically increased, permitting examination of the production function. We show that the size-frequency distribution of chaos plus craters does indeed match production function at Ganymede and Callisto. From the expanded impact-retention record we calculate an average surface age of 600 (-400/+855) Ma. This is substantially older than previous estimates, but still young by solar system standards, and similar to that of the Earth.
Cox Rónald
Ong L. C.
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