Other
Scientific paper
Sep 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008dps....40.5904b&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #59.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 40, p.506
Other
Scientific paper
Impact craters are windows into the third dimension of planetary surfaces. Crater morphology as a function of size, combined with knowledge of surface gravity and an estimate of typical impact conditions, is an indicator of target physical characteristics, such as strength and porosity. This can be a beneficial semi-empirical (using scaling laws that are, in part, laboratory-derived) means to constrain surface properties absent other information.
Impact craters come in two "flavors": primary and secondary. Primary craters form from the direct impact of comets and asteroids onto planetary surfaces (or each other). Secondary craters form from the impact of ejecta excavated from a primary impact. Since the peak pressure of an impact is proportional to the square of the impact speed, the much faster primary impacts generate much higher peak pressures than secondary impacts (whose maximum impact speed is approximately the escape speed of the target object). Measuring the target response to the range of peak pressures caused by both primary and secondary craters provides more constraints than by examining only primary craters, though careful consideration of secondary impact conditions (e.g. sub-hyper-velocity) introduces complexities not relevant for primary impacts.
We provide an example of this complementary analysis. Using photoclinometry and stereo data derived from high-resolution Galileo images, we measured the morphology (in particular, the depth/diameter ratio) of several small primary craters and a multitude of small secondary craters on Europa. Their adherence to simple, bowl-shaped profiles and systematic depth/diameter ratios enabled us to estimate a dynamic strength for Europa's surface and set rough estimates on the bulk porosity. These results apply to the upper few hundred meters, and do not constrain properties at greater depths.
Bierhaus Edward B.
Chapman Clark
Schenk Paul
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