Impact Cratering: Processes and ProductsJohn Wiley & Sons, 17 de out. de 2012 - 336 páginas Impact cratering is arguably the most ubiquitous geological process in the Solar System. It has played an important role in Earth’s history, shaping the geological landscape, affecting the evolution of life, and generating economic resources. However, it was only in the latter half of the 20th century that the importance of impact cratering as a geological process was recognized and only during the past couple of decades that the study of meteorite impact structures has moved into the mainstream. This book seeks to fill a critical gap in the literature by providing an overview text covering broad aspects of the impact cratering process and aimed at graduate students, professionals and researchers alike. It introduces readers to the threat and nature of impactors, the impact cratering process, the products, and the effects – both destructive and beneficial. A series of chapters on the various techniques used to study impact craters provide a foundation for anyone studying impact craters for the first time. |
Conteúdo
Population of impactors and the impact cratering rate in the inner Solar System | 21 |
The contact and compression stage of impact cratering | 32 |
Excavation and impact ejecta emplacement | 43 |
The modification stage of crater formation | 60 |
Impactinduced hydrothermal activity | 76 |
their characteristics and spatial distribution | 90 |
Shock metamorphism | 106 |
Impact melting | 125 |
Economic deposits at terrestrial impact structures | 177 |
Remote sensing of impact craters | 194 |
Geophysical studies of impact craters | 211 |
Projectile identification in terrestrial impact structures and ejecta material | 223 |
The geochronology of impact craters | 240 |
Numerical modelling of impact processes | 254 |
a case study of Meteor and Lonar Craters | 271 |
a case study | 290 |
Environmental effects of impact events | 146 |
The geomicrobiology of impact structures | 157 |
glossary and definitions | 306 |