Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Nov 1983
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1983icar...56..299v&link_type=abstract
Icarus (ISSN 0019-1035), vol. 56, Nov. 1983, p. 299-318.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
16
Achondrites, Craters, Impact Melts, Mars (Planet), Asteroids, Astronomical Models, Crystallization, Ejecta, Temperature Profiles
Scientific paper
The possibility that certain very young meteorites originated as impact melts on a large asteroid or asteroids is investigated. Calculations of the thermal evolution of impact melt show that the solidification time should be long enough to produce igneous or quasi-cumulate textures within rocks if the crater is large enough and if the initial clast concentration is low, at least in some portion of the melt sheet. The number of collisions within the asteroid belt which would produce craters of the requisite size is calculated. Using an estimate of the current size distribution of asteroids, it is found that over 3000 such collisions should have occurred during the lifetime of the solar system. Excavation and ejection of the solidified melt by a subsequent impact would be dynamically easy because of the low escape velocities of even the largest asteroids but improbable because of the depth that must be sampled. A second, sufficiently large impact is rare, so only the products of one such double event have been obtained up to now.
Melosh Henry Jay
Vickery Ann M.
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