Geology topics

S. W. Kieffer

Publications and source records attributed to S. W. Kieffer.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2012

Low-velocity impact craters in ice and ice-saturated sand with implications for Martian crater count ages

We produced a series of decimeter-sized impact craters in blocks of ice near 0°C and −70°C and in ice-saturated sand near −70°C as a preliminary investigation of cratering in materials analogous to those found on Mars and the outer solar system satellites. The projectiles used were standard 0.22 and 0.30 caliber bullets fired at velocities between 0.3 and 1.5 km/s, with kinetic energies at impact between 10 9 and 4×10 10 ergs. Crater diameters in the ice-saturated sand were ∼2 times larger than craters in the same energy and velocity range in competent blocks of granite, basalt and cement. Craters in ice were ∼3 times larger. If this dependence of crater size on strength persists to large hypervelocity impact craters, then surfaces of geologic units composed of ice or ice-saturated soil would have greater crater count ages than rocky surfaces with identical influx histories. The magnitude of the correction to crater counts required by this strength effect is comparable to the magnitudes of corrections required by variations in impact velocity and surface gravity used in determining relative interplanetary chronologies. The relative sizes of craters in ice and ice-saturated sand imply that the tensile strength of ice-saturated sand is a strong inverse function of temperature. If this is true, then Martian impact crater energy versus diameter scaling may also be a function of latitude.

Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth↗

USGS2012

Laboratory studies of volcanic jets

The study of the fluid dynamics of violent volcanic eruptions by laboratory experiment is described, and the important fluid-dynamic processes that can be examined in laboratory models are discussed in detail. In preliminary experiments, pure gases are erupted from small reservoirs. The gases used are Freon 12 and Freon 22, two gases of high molecular weight and high density that are good analogs of heavy and particulate-laden volcanic gases; nitrogen, a moderate molecular weight, moderate density gas for which the thermodynamic properties are well known; and helium, a low molecular weight, lowdensity gas that is used as a basis for comparison with the behavior of the heavier gases and as an analog of steam, the gas that dominates many volcanic eruptions. Transient jets erupt from the reservoir into the laboratory upon rupture of a thin diaphragm at the exit of a convergent nozzle. The gas accelerates from rest in the reservoir to high velocity in the jet. Reservoir pressures and geometries are such that the fluid velocity in the jets is initially supersonic and later decays to subsonic. The measured reservoir pressure decreases as the fluid expands through repetitively reflecting rarefaction waves, but for the conditions of these experiments, a simple steady-discharge model is sufficient to explain the pressure decay and to predict the duration of the flow. Density variations in the flow field have been visualized with schlieren and shadowgraph photography. The observed structure of the jet is correlated with the measured pressure history. The starting vortex generated when the diaphragm ruptures becomes the head of the jet. Though the exit velocity is sonic, the flow head in the helium jet decelerates to about one-third of sonic velocity in the first few nozzle diameters, the nitrogen head decelerates to about three-fourths of sonic velocity, while Freon maintains nearly sonic velocity. The impulsive acceleration of reservoir fluid into the surrounding atmosphere produces a compression wave. The strength of this wave depends primarily on the sound speed of the fluid in the reservoir but also, secondarily with opposite effect, on the density: helium produces a relatively strong atmospheric shock while the Freons do not produce any optically observable wave front. Well-formed N waves are detected with a microphone far from the reservoir. Barrel shocks, Mach disks, and other familiar features of steady underexpanded supersonic jets form inside the jet almost immediately after passage of the flow head. These features are maintained until the pressure in the reservoir decays to sonic conditions. At low pressures the jets are relatively structureless. Gas-particle jets from volcanic eruptions may behave as pseudogases if particle concentrations and mass and momentum exchange between the components are sufficiently small. The sound speed of volcanic pseudogases can be as large as 1000 m s −1 or as small as a few tens of meters per second depending on the mass loading and initial temperature. Fluids of high sound speed produce stronger atmospheric shock waves than do those of low sound speed. Therefore eruption of a hot gas lightly laden with particulates should produce a stronger shock than eruption of a cooler or heavily laden fluid. An empirical expression suggests that the initial velocity of the head of supersonic volcanic jets is controlled by the sound speed and the ratio of the density of the erupting fluid to that of the atmosphere. The duration of gas or pseudogas eruptions is controlled by the sound speed of the fluid and the ratio of reservoir volume to vent area.

Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth↗

USGS2012

Erosional furrows formed during the lateral blast at Mount St. Helens, May 18, 1980

Nearly horizontal, quasi-periodic erosional features of 7-m average transverse wavelength and of order 100-m length occur in scattered locations from 3.5 to 9 km from the crater at Mount St. Helens under deposits of the lateral blast of May 18, 1980. We attribute the erosional features to scouring by longitudinal vortices resulting from flow instabilities induced by complex topography, namely, by streamline curvature in regions of reattachment downstream of sheltered regions, and by the cross-flow component of flow subparallel to ridge crests. The diameter of the vortices and their transverse spacing, inferred from the distance between furrows, are taken to be of the order of the boundary layer thickness. The inferred boundary layer thickness (≈14 m at 9 km from the source of the blast) is consistent with the running length from the mountain to the furrow locations. By using knowledge of ablation patterns on bodies and lofting of dust in high-speed flow, we are able to infer some features of the flow field within the blast. Within the furrows the erosion rate was of the order of 9 kg m −2 s −1 , about 4 times greater than that expected from laboratory data obtained in flow free of longitudinal vortices. The orientation of furrows induced by the cross-flow instability can be used to measure the upwash angle and estimate the flow Mach number: at the central ridge of Spirit Lake the Mach number is inferred to have been about 2.5, and the flow velocity approximately 235 m/s. The similarities and differences between the furrows reported here and channels observed at other volcanoes are discussed.

Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth↗

USGS2009

Megascale processes: Natural disasters and human behavior

Megascale geologic processes, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, floods, and meteoritic impacts have occurred intermittently throughout geologic time, and perhaps on several planets. Unlike other catastrophes discussed in this volume, a unique process is unfolding on Earth, one in which humans may be the driving agent of megadisasters. Although local effects on population clusters may have been catastrophic in the past, human societies have never been interconnected globally at the scale that currently exists. We review some megascale processes and their effects in the past, and compare present conditions and possible outcomes. We then propose that human behavior itself is having effects on the planet that are comparable to, or greater than, these natural disasters. Yet, unlike geologic processes, human behavior is potentially under our control. Because the effects of our behavior threaten the stability, or perhaps even existence, of a civilized society, we call for the creation of a body to institute coherent global, credible, scientifi cally based action that is sensitive to political, economic, religious, and cultural values. The goal would be to institute aggressive monitoring, identify and understand trends, predict their consequences, and suggest and evaluate alternative actions to attempt to rescue ourselves and our ecosystems from catastrophe. We provide a template modeled after several existing national and international bodies. ?? 2009 The Geological Society of America.

Special Paper of the Geological Society of America↗

USGS2001

Io in the near infrared: Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) results from the Galileo flybys in 1999 and 2000

Galileo's Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) observed Io during the spacecraft's three flybys in October 1999, November 1999, and February 2000. The observations, which are summarized here, were used to map the detailed thermal structure of active volcanic regions and the surface distribution of SO 2 and to investigate the origin of a yet unidentified compound showing an absorption feature at ∼1 μm. We present a summary of the observations and results, focusing on the distribution of thermal emission and of SO 2 deposits. We find high eruption temperatures, consistent with ultramafic volcanism, at Pele. Such temperatures may be present at other hot spots, but the hottest areas may be too small for those temperatures to be detected at the spatial resolution of our observations. Loki is the site of frequent eruptions, and the low thermal emission may represent lavas cooling on the caldera's surface or the cooling crust of a lava lake. High-resolution spectral observations of Emakong caldera show thermal emission and SO 2 within the same pixels, implying that patches of SO 2 frost and patches of cooling lavas or sulfur flows are present within a few kilometers from one another. Thermal maps of Prometheus and Amirani show that these two hot spots are characterized by long lava flows. The thermal profiles of flows at both locations are consistent with insulated flows, with the Amirani flow field having more breakouts of fresh lava along its length. Prometheus and Amirani each show a white ring at visible wavelengths, while SO 2 distribution maps show that the highest concentration of SO 2 in both ring deposits lies outside the white portion. Visible measurements at high phase angles show that the white deposit around Prometheus extends into the SO 2 ring. This suggests that the deposits are thin and that compositional or grain size variations may occur in the radial direction. SO 2 mapping of the Chaac region shows that the interior of a caldera adjacent to Chaac has almost pure SO 2 . The deposit appears to be topographically controlled, suggesting a possible origin by liquid flow.

Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets↗

USGS2000

A close-up look at Io from Galileo's near-infrared mapping spectrometer

Infrared spectral images of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io, acquired during the October and November 1999 and February 2000 flybys of the Galileo spacecraft, were used to study the thermal structure and sulfur dioxide distribution of active volcanoes. Loki Patera, the solar system's most powerful known volcano, exhibits large expanses of dark, cooling lava on its caldera floor. Prometheus, the site of long-lived plume activity, has two major areas of thermal emission, which support ideas of plume migration. Sulfur dioxide deposits were mapped at local scales and show a more complex relationship to surface colors than previously thought, indicating the presence of other sulfur compounds.

Science↗

USGS1995

Triton's plumes: Discovery, characteristics, and models

This chapter presents (1) basic observations and characteristics of Triton's plumes (scale, geometry, optical properties, and temporal behavior); (2) the current best estimates of other parameters that can be derived directly or inferred from the observations (plume duration, wind velocities, particle properties, mass fluxes, energy requirements, and total erupted mass); and (3) a discussion of various models for the mechanisms driving the plumes.

Book chapter↗

USGS1990

Triton's geyser-like plumes: Discovery and basic characterization

At least four active geyser-like eruptions were discovered in Voyager 2 images of Triton, Neptune's large satellite. The two best documented eruptions occur as columns of dark material rising to an altitude of about 8 kilometers where dark clouds of material are left suspended to drift downwind over 100 kilometers. The radii of the rising columns appear to be in the range of several tens of meters to a kilometer. One model for the mechanism to drive the plumes involves heating of nitrogen ice in a subsurface greenhouse environment; nitrogen gas pressurized by the solar heating explosively vents to the surface carrying clouds of ice and dark partides into the atmosphere. A temperature increase of less than 4 kelvins above the ambient surface value of 38 ± 3 kelvins is more than adequate to drive the plumes to an 8-kilometer altitude. The mass flux in the trailing clouds is estimated to consist of up to 10 kilograms of fine dark particles per second or twice as much nitrogen ice and perhaps several hundred or more kilograms of nitrogen gas per second. Each eruption may last a year or more, during which on the order of a tenth of a cubic kilometer of ice is sublimed.

Science↗

USGS1988