Abstract
The production of large-scale magnetic fields and associated crustal magnetization in lunar basin-forming impacts is investigated theoretically. Two-dimensional numerical models of the partially ionized vapor cloud produced in such impacts show that the low-density periphery of the cloud expands thermally around the Moon and converges near the antipode in a time of the order of 400 to 500 s for silicate impactor velocities of 15 to 20 km/s. Meteoroid impact plasmas appear capable of explaining a major part of the large-scale magnetization detected thus far from lunar orbit. -from Authors
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 9837-9846 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Journal of geophysical research |
Volume | 96 |
Issue number | B6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1991 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geophysics
- Forestry
- Oceanography
- Aquatic Science
- Ecology
- Water Science and Technology
- Soil Science
- Geochemistry and Petrology
- Earth-Surface Processes
- Atmospheric Science
- Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
- Space and Planetary Science
- Palaeontology