The seismic moment and seismic efficiency of small impacts on Mars
File(s)2020JE006540.pdf (2.3 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Since landing in late 2018, the InSight lander has been recording seismic signals on the surface of Mars. Despite nominal pre-landing estimates of 1–3 meteorite impacts detected per Earth year, none have yet been identified seismically. To inform revised detectability estimates, we simulated numerically a suite of small impacts onto Martian regolith and characterized their seismic source properties. For the impactor size and velocity range most relevant for InSight, crater diameters are 1-30 m. We found that in this range scalar seismic moment is 106−1010Nm and increases almost linearly with impact momentum. The ratio of horizontal to vertical seismic moment tensor components is∼1, implying an almost isotropic P-wave source, for vertical impacts. Seismic efficiencies are ∼10−6, dependent on the target crushing strength and impact velocity. Our predictions of relatively low seismic efficiency and seismic moment suggest that meteorite impact de-tectability on Mars is lower than previously assumed. Detection chances are best for impacts forming craters of diameter>10m.
Date Issued
2020-10
Date Acceptance
2020-09-17
Citation
Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 2020, 125 (10), pp.1-20
ISSN
2169-9097
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Start Page
1
End Page
20
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
Volume
125
Issue
10
Copyright Statement
©2020. The Authors.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Sponsor
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
Identifier
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020JE006540
Grant Number
ST/S001514/1
ST/T002026/1
Subjects
0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences
0402 Geochemistry
0403 Geology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2020-09-25