Fates of satellite ejecta in the Saturn system, II

Alvarellos, J. L.; Dobrovolskis, Anthony R.; Zahnle, Kevin; Hamill, Patrick; Dones, L.; Robbins, S. J.

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2016.10.028

Cited by 15 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…This difference in shape of the size frequency diagrams suggests that the small crater population has been preferentially enhanced in Region 1 compared to the other areas on Tethys. Potential sources of the enhancement are secondary craters or sesquinary craters, or where the debris that created the smaller craters came from one of Tethys' co-orbital satellites, Telesto or Calypso (Alvarellos et al, 2017;Bierhaus et al, 2012Bierhaus et al, , 2018Nayak & Asphaug, 2016; see Dobrovolskis et al, 2010, for the models of ejecta exchange between the moons). Overall, we are seeing size distributions that are suggestive of a Saturn-specific planetocentric population along with an enhancement of the small crater population near the anti-Saturn point (Region 1).…”

Section: Journal Of Geophysical Research: Planetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, secondary craters (created when ejecta from formation of a primary crater impacts the surface) and sesquinary craters (created when ejecta orbits the body before impacting) may also play a role in modifying these surfaces (Alvarellos et al, 2005, 2017; Bierhaus et al, 2012). Production functions that are specific to the outer planets are particularly important because extrapolation of the lunar production functions past Mars (e.g., Neukum et al, 2005) yields results with large errors and does not best reflect the sources of impactors available in this region of the solar system (e.g., Campo Bagatin & Benavidez, 2012; Dones et al, 2009; Kirchoff & Schenk, 2010, 2015; Kirchoff et al, 2018; Nesvorný et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Small Impact Crater Populations on Saturn's Moon Tethys and Implications for Source Impactors in the System

2020

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Current estimates place the ages of the inner Saturnian satellites (Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, and Rhea) between 4.5 Gyr and 100 Myr. These estimates are based on impact crater measurements and dynamical simulations, both of which have uncertainties. Models of satellite evolution are inherently simplified and rely on uncertain or unknown parameters, which are often difficult to verify, whereas the interpretations of crater densities depend on the source populations of impactors, which are not well‐constrained in the outer solar system. We investigate the cratering history of Tethys, mapping the population of small impact craters, to determine the roles that planetocentric, heliocentric, or other impact debris play in its cratering record. To map the surface of Tethys, we chose five regions that were located in geographically distinct areas and had high‐resolution (~150 m/pix) image coverage by the Cassini ISS camera. We studied all craters that had at least 7 pixels across but mapped down to 5 pixels for completeness in the crater counts. We observe an abundance of small craters (D < 3 km) in the oldest region; this does not appear to be due to secondary cratering effects from the Odysseus impact basin. Fitting the production functions from Zahnle et al. (2003, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0019‐1035(03)00048‐4), we find that neither their Case A nor Case B scenarios align with the observed cratering record at Tethys. We conclude that in addition to the standard outer solar system impactor populations, there is a Saturn‐centric impactor source that is cratering Tethys.

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Section: Journal Of Geophysical Research: Planetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small Impact Crater Populations on Saturn's Moon Tethys and Implications for Source Impactors in the System

2020

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“…These craters will likely not form in a clustered pattern, but be spread across the surface sometimes having hemispherical concentrations (Alvarellos et al. , ). They are generally as unrecognizable as distant secondaries in the inner solar system and influence the crater chronology in much the same way since they do not have a known formation rate.…”

Section: Crater Formation Heterogeneitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Dating very young planetary surfaces from crater statistics: A review of issues and challenges

Williams

Bogert

Pathare

et al. 2017

Meteorit & Planetary Scien

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Abstract-Determining the ages of young planetary surfaces relies on using populations of small, often sub-km diameter impact craters due to the higher frequency at which they form. Smaller craters however can be less reliable for estimating ages as their sizefrequency distribution is more susceptible to alteration with debate as to whether they should be used at all. With the current plethora of meter-scale resolution images acquired of the lunar and Martian surfaces, small craters have been widely used to derive model ages to establish the temporal relation of recent geologic events. In this review paper, we discuss the many factors that make smaller craters particularly challenging to use and should be taken into consideration when crater counts are confined to small crater diameters. Establishing confidence in a model age ultimately requires an understanding of the geologic context of the surface being dated as reliability can vary considerably and limitations of the dating technique should be considered in applying ages to any geologic interpretation.

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“…b Some small craters on the continuous ejecta deposits are partly filled by melt flows (white arrows), and the location of this image is marked in a. c The spatial density of small craters on the continuous ejecta deposits of Tooting is not uniform, as the southern part has a higher crater density ejecta that have escaped the parent body would impact both the parent body and moons in adjacent orbits, forming sesquinaries. Sesquinaries are likely not formed in clusters, but will be spread across the surface, sometimes having hemispherical concentrations (Alvarellos et al 2005(Alvarellos et al , 2017. Therefore, when sesquinaries are formed on the continuous ejecta deposits and interior of a fresh crater, they can be mixed with the potential self-secondaries.…”

Section: Self-secondaries On the Other Planetary Bodiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the importance of self-secondaries

Xiao

2018

Geosci. Lett.

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Self-secondaries are secondary craters that are formed on both the continuous ejecta deposits and interior of the parent crater. The possible existence of self-secondaries was proposed in the late 1960s, but their identity, formation mechanism, and importance were not revisited until the new generation of high-resolution images for the Moon have recently became available. Possible self-secondary crater populations have now been recognized not only on the Moon, but also on Mercury, Mars, 1Ceres, 4Vesta, and satellites of the ice giants. On the Moon and terrestrial planets, fragments that form self-secondaries are launched with high ejection angles via spallation during the early cratering process, so that self-secondaries can be formed both within the crater and on the continuous ejecta deposits at the end of the cratering process. Self-secondaries potentially possess profound effects on the widely used agedetermination technique using crater statistics in planetary geology, because (1) self-secondaries cause nonuniform crater density across the continuous ejecta deposits, which cannot be solely explained by the effect of different target properties on crater size-frequency distributions; (2) crater chronologies for both the Moon and the other terrestrial bodies are largely based on crater counts on the continuous ejecta deposits of several young lunar craters. The effect of self-secondaries on crater chronology can be well addressed after the spatial distribution, size-frequency distribution, and density evolution of self-secondaries are resolved.

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Fates of satellite ejecta in the Saturn system, II

Cited by 15 publications

References 34 publications

Small Impact Crater Populations on Saturn's Moon Tethys and Implications for Source Impactors in the System

Small Impact Crater Populations on Saturn's Moon Tethys and Implications for Source Impactors in the System

Dating very young planetary surfaces from crater statistics: A review of issues and challenges

On the importance of self-secondaries

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