On the estimation of elastic stresses in the mantle at the time moment of a large meteorite fall

Abstract

[1]  Simple relations are obtained for estimating stresses in the mantle at the time moment of a large meteorite fall from values of the velocity and mass of the meteorite and the sizes of its crater. It is shown that the fall of the Chicxulub meteorite, the largest over the last 100 Myr, produced stresses of the order of 0.1-1 MPa.

Received 12 November 2005; revised 21 November 2005; accepted 1 December 2005; published 14 December 2005.

Keywords: stresses in the mantle, geodynamics.

Index Terms: 8164 Tectonophysics: Stresses: crust and lithosphere; 8168 Tectonophysics: Stresses: general; 1236 Geodesy and Gravity: Rheology of the lithosphere and mantle.

Citation: Molodensky, S. M. (2005), On the estimation of elastic stresses in the mantle at the time moment of a large meteorite fall, Russ. J. Earth Sci., 7, ES6004, doi:10.2205/2005ES000193.