Experimental studies of oblique impactMeteoritic materials most probably impact planetary bodies along oblique trajectories inclined less than 45 deg above their surfaces. Laboratory studies of hypervelocity impacts against rock and particulate media are presented that indicate important effects of obliquity on crater size, shape, and ejecta distribution. The effects are particularly important to crater size-frequency analyses and geologic interpretations of crater formations. Impacts at shallow incidence, which are not uncommon, lead to ricochet of the impacting object accompanied with some entrained excavated materials at velocities only slightly reduced from the pre-impact value.
Document ID
19790055301
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Gault, D. E. (California Institute of Technology, Pasadena; Murphys Center of Planetology, Murphys Calif., United States)
Wedekind, J. A. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, Calif., United States)