Colloquium: Dirk Elbeshausen

Dirk Elbeshausen

Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin

Abstract:  Studies of meteorite impact improve our knowledge of the history of the Solar System and its bodies, the thermodynamic evolution of planets and the evolution of life.

The total energy delivered by meteorite impact scales with size and velocity of the impacting projectile. The distribution of energy into the impacted target depends on the impactor and target properties and affects the ejection and distribution of material and the size and shape of the resulting impact structure. Huge experimental effort has been made in the last decades to quantify this effect. However, technical restrictions, both in laboratory and numerical experiments, often limited these studies to simplified scenarios, such as vertical impacts into planar targets.

In the last years, large progress has been made in the development of high-performance three-dimensional hydrocodes, which now allow focusing on studying more complex and, thus, realistic impact conditions. In this talk I am going to review our improved knowledge on the influence of the impact angle on the size and shape of a crater and its formation mechanism. I will also deliver insight into the role of topography on the cratering process and the possibility of landslide generation by impacts into slopes.