Axis Changes in the Earth from Large Meteorite Collisions

GALLANT 1 has evaluated axis change in the Earth caused by collisions of large meteorites. The displacements he estimates, however, are larger than those I published ten years ago 2 and more recently with slight modification 3 . He calculates that a Juno-sized meteorite (about 190 km diam.) collidin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1963-01, Vol.198 (4876), p.176-176
Main Author: DACHILLE, FRANK
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
multidisciplinary
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
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Summary:GALLANT 1 has evaluated axis change in the Earth caused by collisions of large meteorites. The displacements he estimates, however, are larger than those I published ten years ago 2 and more recently with slight modification 3 . He calculates that a Juno-sized meteorite (about 190 km diam.) colliding at 20 km/sec would cause an axis displacement of 0° 45″. However, by using the correct criterion of interaction of the Earth's angular momentum with the moment of momentum of the colliding body, the actual displacement would be only about 0° 02′. In fact, a bigger body, say 320 km in diameter, colliding at a maximum possible velocity of 72 km/sec would produce only 0° 32′ axis shift despite an energy 75 times the Juno example.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/198176a0