Impact megadomes and the origin of the martian crustal dichotomy

Computer Science

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

We show that a sufficiently energetic impact can generate a melt volume which, after isostatic adjustment and differentiation, forms a spherical cap of crust with underlying depleted mantle. Depending on impact energy and initial crustal thickness, a basin may be retained or impact induced crust may be topographically elevated. Retention of a martian lowland scale impact basin at impact energies ˜3 × 1028-3 × 1029 J requires an initial crustal thickness greater than 10 km. Formation of impact induced crust with size comparable to the martian highlands requires a larger impact energy, ˜1-3 × 1030 J, and initial crustal thickness <20 km. Furthermore, we show that the boundary of impact induced crust can be elliptical due to a spatially asymmetric impact melt volume caused by an oblique impact. We suggest the term "impact megadome" for topographically elevated, impact induced crust and propose that processes involved in megadome formation may play an important role in the origin of the martian crustal dichotomy.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Impact megadomes and the origin of the martian crustal dichotomy does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Impact megadomes and the origin of the martian crustal dichotomy, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Impact megadomes and the origin of the martian crustal dichotomy will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-918158

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.