[O-09] Kitchen Earth Science: its potential for producing diverse goals by hands-on experiments

[O09-P12] Analog experiments on low-velocity impact of a sphere into a mud layer as a mimic of the secondary impact cratering in unsolidified sediments on Mars★Invited Papers

*Ichiro Kumagai¹, Ryuta Tabe¹, Miyuki Yamada¹ (1.School of Science and Engineering, Meisei University)

Keywords:

impact cratering,experiment,Mars,soft sediments

We have conducted laboratory experiments on the crater formation by a solid sphere impacting a mud layer with a velocity range from 2.2 to 25 m/s. In order to understand the formation process of low-velocity impact craters in the soft sediments, we investigated the effect of the water content of the sediments. The rheological properties of the target material (mixture of “Arakida” soil and water) were measured using a Ball Measuring System rheometer, which showed that the mud exhibits a shear-thinning nature and its apparent viscosity depends on its water content. The experimental results showed that the mode of the ejecta emplacement depends on the sphere’s impact velocity, the sphere size, the mud layer’s thickness, and its apparent viscosity. We will discuss the morphological analogy between the craters observed in our experiments and small craters on Mars.