280102 VU Modeling Planetary Impacts (2023W)

Lecturers

• Mark Boslough

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

The class is a combination of lectures (about 2 hours at each given date) and some suggested reading/homework (for which the rest of the time is allocated, but of course this can be done at any time). The course is for general earth sciences (and related fields), no specialization necessary.

Hypervelocity impacts are a geologically important but infrequent occurrence on Earth on the human time scale. Compared to the Moon, our planet has a very young and active surface, so the craters that result from impacts are erased rapidly on the geological timescale, and there are only about 190 confirmed impact structures (craters or the remains of craters) on Earth. Airbursts are a type of impact in which the cosmic body is too small to reach the ground and explodes in the atmosphere without forming a crater. Large airbursts that cause damage on the surface are historically rare, with only a few well-known examples such as the 1908 Tunguska explosion and the 2013 Chelyabinsk event. Much of what we know about our planet’s impact craters comes from geological field work to impact structures, drilling, and laboratory analysis of rocks and minerals associated with them. This understanding is enhanced by laboratory experiments and explosive and hypervelocity impact tests (including the recent DART test), remote sensing, and analysis of craters on the Moon, asteroids, other planets and their satellites. A full understanding of the impact process has been enabled by the development of high-performance computing hardware and software which has allowed us create high-resolution, high-fidelity models. These models have allowed us to make predictions and to generate new explanations for unsolved mysteries associated with these rare cosmic events. This course will discuss a number of those mysteries that are in various stages of being solved.

• Friday 03.11. 15:00 - 17:30 Gustav Tschermak-Praktikumsraum 2C201 2.OG UZA II
• Tuesday 07.11. 15:00 - 17:30 Geol.-Praktikumsraum 2B201 2.OG UZA II
• Tuesday 14.11. 15:00 - 17:30 Geol.-Praktikumsraum 2B201 2.OG UZA II
• Tuesday 21.11. 15:00 - 17:30 Geol.-Praktikumsraum 2B201 2.OG UZA II
• Tuesday 28.11. 15:00 - 17:30 Geol.-Praktikumsraum 2B201 2.OG UZA II