CATASTROPHIC DISRUPTIONS AND CRATERING OF SOLAR-SYSTEM BODIES - A REVIEW AND NEW RESULTS

Collisions of bodies of the solar system have played an important role in their evolution and current observable state, but the mechanics and outcomes of those collisions are not well understood. This contribution discusses the mechanics and outcomes of those impacts, melding the existing theory, recent experiments and observations into a new and revised scaling theory, for both catastrophic disruptions and for the largest basins remaining for impacts below that threshold. New evidence is obtained by an analysis of those largest solar system basins and craters, and from some recent experiments on disruptions. The paper will present certain problems with the quantitative estimates of former approaches (Holsapple and Housen, Memorie della Societa Astronomica Italiana 57, 65-85, 1986; Housen and Holsapple, Icarus 84, 226-253, 1990), discuss remaining areas of uncertainty, and will give updated estimates for these important phenomena.