Numerical simulation of meteorite impact on basaltic lavas at Lonar Crater, India

Abstract

Lonar lake is a hypervelocity impact crater formed in a basaltic terrain of Deccan Traps in the state of Maharashtra, India. The crater has an approximate radius of 915 m and an average depth of about 137 m. Here we report the results of our numerical investigations aimed to elucidate the physical characteristics of incoming asteroid. For realistic simulation, we not only consider basalt but also basalt with granite basin as the surface of impact. Because most of the characteristics of impactors are unknown we sample the phase space of physics characters and determine the possible bounds of its properties. Among the handful of potential candidates, we believe the incoming asteroid was an iron-rich body of about 52m in radius hitting the surface at 60km/s. Our analysis also shows that the impact created a transient crater of 414m in depth leaving underlying granite basin more or less intact.