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HOLLOW LUNAR SPHERULES AND MICROCRATERING
Author(s) -
Vedder J.F.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
meteoritics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1945-5100
pISSN - 0026-1114
DOI - 10.1111/j.1945-5100.1976.tb00161.x
Subject(s) - impact crater , projectile , hypervelocity , spallation , spheres , geology , debris , ejecta , materials science , astrobiology , composite material , metallurgy , physics , astronomy , oceanography , quantum mechanics , supernova , neutron
Since thin‐walled hollow glass spherules exist in the lunar regolith and perhaps as a component of cosmic dust, laboratory simulations of impacts by and upon such spherules were done to determine identifying features of the resulting craters and perforations. The targets were soda‐lime glass, stainless steel, and hollow glass beads. Craters were generated in the first two targets by the normal impact of thin‐walled hollow glass spheres with masses and velocities between eight and 240 pg and 1.8 and 10 km/s, respectively. With increasing impact velocity, the crater morphology in glass progresses as follows: 1, a dent; 2, a narrow lip around the depression; and 3, spallation around the pit that may carry away all of part of the lip. The craters differ from those formed by solid spherical projectiles in that the central pit is an annular rather than a cup‐shaped depression. The craters in steel display a typical outer lip and an additional concentric inner lip which is subdued to an annular mound as the impact velocity increases. In both targets, shattered remnants of the projectiles remain in the craters at low impact velocities. At higher velocities, melting of the projectile material occurs. The annular features distinguish these craters from craters generated by solid spheres or irregular projectiles', and the existence of such a crater morphology on a surface exposed to cosmic dust would indicate the presence of thin‐walled hollow spherules. Contrary to common opinion, hollow spheres do not adequately simulate cratering by low density materials because of the mass distribution. Penetrations of thin‐walled hollow glass beads by high velocity, solid, micrometer‐size spheres are characterized by inward and outward flowing lips that show asymmetries dependent on the angle of impact. The morphology is sufficient to discriminate against other mechanisms that cause perforations in the one to 10 μm size range in hollow lunar spherules. The identifying lip may break away by fragmentation in the impact of larger size projectiles.