Feb 1993
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1993jgr....98.3043w&link_type=abstract
Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 98, no. E2, p. 3043-3052.
Physics
9
Earth, Tektites, Climate, Strewn Fields, Impact Effects, Comparisons, Ejecta, Melting, Heating, Porosity, Parent Material, Energy, Water, Grain Size, Models, Australasians, Microtektites, Loess, Beryllium 10, Origin, Formation, Lithology, Silica, Sediments
Scientific paper
Only four tektite fields have been produced during the past 40 m.y., even though at least 60 impact craters have been produced during the same period in continental lithologies having tektite-like compositions. The apparent reason for this discrepancy is that the ejecta from most crater-forming impacts was not completely melted. The key factor affecting melt production seems to be the nature of the target, particularly its porosity. The fraction of projectile kinetic energy converted to heat may be an order of magnitude higher in a highly porous target than in a void-free target. The grain size and water content of the target are also important. The ideal target is a porous, fine-grained sediment such as loess, particularly if it is also dry. It is suggested that the rate of impact production of fully molten crater ejecta is proportional to the fraction of the continental surface having thick (greater than 10 m) blankets of dry loess and that tektites are mainly produced during cold, dry periods when such deposits are an order of magnitude more common than at present.
Heins W. A.
Wasson John T.
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