Engineering topics

Melosh, H. J.

Publications and source records attributed to Melosh, H. J..

At least 73 records · Page 4

NASA NTRS1988

Earth rocks on Mars: Must planetary quarantine be rethought

Recent geochemical, isotopic, and rare gas studies suggest that eight SNC meteorites originated on the planet Mars. Since Martian rocks are found on Earth, consideration is being given to finding Earth rocks on Mars. Detailed consideration of the mechanism by which these meteorites were lofted into space strongly suggest that the process of stress-wave spallation near a large impact with, perhaps, an assist from vapor plume expansion, is the fundamental process by which lightly-shocked rock debris is ejected into interplanetary space. The theory of spall ejection was used to examine the mass and velocity of material ejected from the near vicinity of an impact. It seems likely that the half-dozen largest impact events on Earth would have ejected considerable masses of near surface rocks into interplanetary space. No computations were performed to indicate how long Earth ejecta would take to reach Mars.

Melosh, H. J.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Atmospheric erosion by impacts: An analytic investigation

Until recently, models for the origin and evolution of the atmospheres of terrestrial planets ignored the effects of accretionary impacts. In the 1970's, however, it was suggested that heating and/or vaporization of accreting carbonaceous-chondrite-type planetesimals could result in the release of their volatile components. Modeling of this process strongly suggests that substantial atmospheres/hydrospheres could develop this way. During most of the accretionary process, impact velocities generally differed little from the escape velocity of the growing proto-planet because most of the collisions were between bodies in nearly matching orbits. Toward the end of accretion, however, collisions were rarer but much more energetic, involving large planetesimals and higher impact velocities. It has been postulated that such impacts result in a net loss of atmosphere from a planet, and that the cumulative effect impacts during the period of heavy bombardment might have dramatically depleted the original atmospheres.

Vickery, A. M.↗

NASA NTRS1988

The tectonics of Mercury

The probable tectonic history of Mercury and the relative sequence of events are discussed on the basis of data collected by the Mariner-10 spacecraft. Results indicate that Mercury's tectonic activity was confined to its early history; its endogenic activity was principally due to a small change in the shape of its lithosphere, caused by tidal despinning, and a small change in area caused by shrinkage due to cooling. Exogenic processes, in particular the impact activity, have produced more abundant tectonic features. Many features associated with the Caloris basin are due to loading of Mercury's thick lithosphere by extrusive lavas or subsidence due to magma withdrawal. It is emphasized that tectonic features observed on Mercury yield insight into the earliest tectonic events on planets like Mars and, perhaps, the earth, where subsequent events obscured or erased the most ancient tectonic records.

Melosh, H. J.↗

NASA NTRS1987

The large crater origin of SNC meteorites

A large body of evidence strongly suggests that the shergottite, nakhlite, and Chassigny (SNC) meteorites are from Mars. Various mechanisms for the ejection of large rocks at Martian escape velocity (5 km/sec) have been investigated, but none has proved wholly satisfactory. This article examines a number of possible ejection and cosmic-ray exposure histories to determine which is most plausible. For each possible history, the Melosh (1984, 1985, 1987) spallation model is used to estimate the size of the crater required to produce ejecta fragments of the required size with velocities not less than 5 km/sec and to produce a total mass of solid ejecta consistent with the observed mass flux of SNC meteorites. Estimates of crater production rates on Mars are then used to evaluate the probability that sufficiently large craters have formed during the available time. The results indicate that the SNC meteorites were probably ejected from a very large crater (greater than 100 kilometers in diameter) about 200 million years ago, and that cosmic-ray exposure of the recovered meteorites was initiated after collisional fragmentation of the original ejecta in space at much later times (0.5 to 10 million years ago).

Vickery, A. M.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Terrace width variations in complex lunar craters

The widths of terrace structures in complex craters on the moon are compared to existing theoretical models of their origin. Terrace widths in an individual crater increase monotonically outward toward the crater rim. Similarly, the width W of the terraces lying closest to the rim of a crater of diameter D increases monotonically, obeying a least-squares power-law relation WS (km) = 0.09D exp 0.87 km). A simple model of slumping that ignores inertial forces and assumes a constant bedrock yield strength is in good agreement with the observations.

Pearce, Steven J.↗

NASA NTRS1986

When worlds collide - Jetted vapor plumes and the moon's origin

It is proposed that a collision between a Mars-sized planetesimal and the protoearth explains both the anomalously large angular momentum of the earth-moon system and the similarity between the moon's bulk composition and the earth's mantle. An approximate calculation was performed to obtain information on the highest speed, most highly shocked ejecta and the ejection pattern, speed, angles of launch, etc. as a function of the impact parameter and the ratio of the sizes of the colliding protoplanets. Computation results are in agreement with the megaimpact hypothesis.

Melosh, H. J.↗

NASA NTRS1985

The impact ejection of living organisms into space

The possibility of natural processes to blast living organisms into space was examined. It is suggested that rocks ejected from the Earth by a giant meteorite or comet impact can carry microorganisms into space. Such microscopic Earth life would have an opportunity to colonize the other planets if it can survive the rigors of space until it falls into the atmosphere of a hospitable planet.

Melosh, H. J.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Impact processes and their implications for planetary formation and early evolution

Small impact craters dominate the geomorphology of small planetary bodies. Even Mars has extensive impact-dominated landscapes. The regoliths of the Moon and asteroids are created and maintained by impacts. It is now widely recognized that large impacts (craters 100-1000 km in diameter) are one of the major tectonic elements in the lithospheres of bodies like the Moon, Mercury, Mars and Callisto. The multiring basins these large impacts produce sometimes extend over an entire hemisphere. Such basins may have also affected tectonics during the Earth's hadean era. Although it has long been appreciated that low velocity collisions played a major role in the accretion of planetesimals into planets, recent work indicates a far more profound role for impacts. Studies of the interaction of planetary atmospheres with large impacts, begun in an effort to define the climatological effects of the K-T impactor, suggest that impacts may remove a significant fraction of a planet's atmosphere. Such removal now offers hope of explaining the puzzling systematics of the heavy noble gases in the atmospheres of the Earth, Venus, and Mars.

Melosh, H. J.↗

NASA NTRS1985

The Heart Mountain fault: Implications for the dynamics of decollement

The Hart Mountain docollement in Northwestern Wyoming originally comprised a plate of rock up to 750m thick and 1300 sq kilometers in area. This plate moved rapidly down a slope no steeper than 2 deg. during Early Eocene time, transporting some blocks at least 50m from their original positions. Sliding occurred just before a volcanic erruption and was probably accompanied by seismic events. The initial movement was along a bedding plane fault in the Bighorn Dolomite, 2 to 3 meters above its contact with the Grove Creek member of the Snowy Range formation. The major pecularity of this fault is that it lies in the strong, cliff-forming Bighorn Dolomite, rather than in the weaker underlying shales. The dynamics of decollement are discussed.

Melosh, H. J.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Impact ejection, spallation, and the origin of meteorites

A model for the ejection of material from an impact crater which links ejection velocity, fragment size, and shock pressure through a simplified stress-wave propagation and reflection scheme is presented. It is shown that a small amount of material (0.01 to 0.05 projectile mass) may be ejected at high velocity without suffering petrologically detectable shock pressures. The largest fragments ejected at any velocity are spalls that originate from the target planet's surface. The spall size is proportional to the radius of the primary impactor and the target tensile strength and inversely proportional to ejection velocity. The shock level in the spalls is low, typically half of the dynamic crushing strength of the rock. The model also predicts the aspect ratio of the spalled fragments, the angle of ejection, and the sizes and shock level of other fragments originating deeper in the target. Comparison with observational and experimental data shows generally good agreement.

Melosh, H. J.↗

NASA NTRS1983

The origin of SNC meteorites - An alternative to Mars

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.

Vickery, A. M.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Anelastic response of the earth to a dip slip earthquake

The deformation induced by a vertical dip slip earthquake is examined using a variety of rheologic models. In this way the complications of dipping faults are avoided, and the phenomenon of transient peripheral warping is clearly revealed. A thrust fault dipping at 30 deg is investigated, and the important effects of dip and the existence of a slab on the asymmetry of strain pulses propagated into the overthrust and subducted lithosphere are demonstrated. One of the signal results of the study is the essential similarity of the strain patterns for Newtonian and non-Newtonian flow laws: the two rheologies give nearly identical strain field geometries. The principal difference between the two, which is readily observable, is in their time evolution. Relaxation in non-Newtonian rheologies tends to be initially fast, then slow at times that are late in comparison with relaxation in a Newtonian rheology. The possibility of simply recalling the time dependence of a Newtonian solution to obtain an approximate solution to a non-Newtonian problem is demonstrated.

Melosh, H. J.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Vertical movements following a dip-slip earthquake

The results of finite element (FEM) computations based on elastic dislocation theory are presented. It is shown that the ratio of fault depth to the lithospheric thickness is a significant factor in the sign of the rebound. Subsidence occurs if the fault penetrates less than approximately 0.68 of the way through the lithosphere. An uplift occurs if the fault cuts deeper. The FEM employed consisted of a 546 node, 500 element grid and a quasi-plane strain algorithm. The situation modeled consisted of a 30 deg dip fault in an initially planar elastic lithosphere overlying a Maxwell viscoelastic asthenosphere. It is suggested that postseismic rebound may be measurable over a several year interval, thus providing data on lithosphere thicknesses.

Melosh, H. J.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Acoustic fluidization and the scale dependence of impact crater morphology

A phenomenological Bingham plastic model has previously been shown to provide an adequate description of the collapse of impact craters. This paper demonstrates that the Bingham parameters may be derived from a model in which acoustic energy generated during excavation fluidizes the rock debris surrounding the crater. Experimental support for the theoretical flow law is presented. Although the Bingham yield stress cannot be computed without detailed knowledge of the initial acoustic field, the Bingham viscosity is derived from a simple argument which shows that it increases as the 3/2 power of crater diameter, consistent with observation. Crater collapse may occur in material with internal dissipation Q as low as 100, comparable to laboratory observations of dissipation in granular materials. Crater collapse thus does not require that the acoustic field be regenerated during flow.

Melosh, H. J.↗

NASA NTRS1982

A schematic model of crater modification by gravity

The morphology of craters found on planets and moons of the solar system is examined and a development model which can account for the observed crater characteristics is discussed. The prompt collapse of craters to form flat floors, terraced walls, and central peak structures is considered to be the result of an approximate Bingham plastic rheology of the material surrounding the crater. This rheology is induced dynamically by the strong incoherent acoustic 'noise' accompanying excavation of the crater. Central pits, peak rings, and other multiple symmetric-profile rings originate by oscillation of this fluid. Large craters with transient depths comparable to the lithosphere thickness are subject to collapse by fragmentation of the lithosphere as well as fluidization. The considered concepts are developed mathematically. A model emerges which appears capable of explaining most of the qualitative features of large impact structures.

Melosh, H. J.↗

NASA NTRS1982

The earthquake cycle in subduction zones

A simplified model of a subduction zone is presented, which incorporates the mechanical asymmetry induced by the subducted slab to anchor the subducting plate during post-seismic rebound and thus throw most of the coseismic stream release into the overthrust plate. The model predicts that the trench moves with respect to the deep mantle toward the subducting plate at a velocity equal to one-half of the convergence rate. A strong extensional pulse is propagated into the overthrust plate shortly after the earthquake, and although this extension changes into compression before the next earthquake in the cycle, the period of strong extension following the earthquake may be responsible for extensional tectonic features in the back-arc region.

Melosh, H. J.↗

NASA NTRS1982

The mechanics of large meteoroid impacts in the earth's oceans

The sequence of events subsequent to the impact of a large meteoroid in an ocean differs in several respects from an impact on land. Even if the meteoroid is large enough to produce a crater on the sea floor (that is, larger than a few km in diameter), the presence of water affects the character of the early-time events. The principal difference between land and oceanic impacts is the expansion of shock-vaporized water following an oceanic impact. A steam explosion follows the meteoroid's deposition of energy in the target. Shocked water expands from an initial pressure of 3 to 6 Mbar for 20-30 km/second impacts, ejecting water vapor and dust from the vaporized meteoroid several hundred km into the atmosphere. The violent vapor plume thus formed may explain how dust with a dominantly meteoritic composition can be dispersed to form a world-wide dust layer, as required by the Alvarez hypothesis.

Melosh, H. J.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Atmospheric breakup of terrestrial impactors

Aerodynamic stresses are large enough to crush large meteoriods entering the earth's atmosphere. The fragments are dispersed after breakup, changing the shape and effective density of the meteoroid. This decreases the depth of penetration of the meteoroid when it strikes the ground and may influence the size and morphology of the resulting impact crater. This paper shows that meteoroids up to a kilometer in diameter may be significantly affected by this process when they enter the earth's atmosphere. Meteoroids up to ten kilometers in diameter are affected on Venus. The degree of fragment dispersion is independent of the meteoroid's velocity or altitude of breakup (if it is higher than about three scale heights); it depends mainly upon the meteoroid's initial diameter and the angle of atmospheric entry.

Melosh, H. J.↗