PSI SEMINAR SERIES:
Joanna Morgan (Imperial College)
bodies in our solar system, and are widely agreed to be formed by the
hydrodynamic collapse of a gravitationally unstable central uplift.
However, the precise lithological character, physical state, as well as
the kinematics of peak ring formation remains unclear, and are the
target for planned scientific drilling at the Chicxulub crater.
Newly-developed imaging techniques (full seismic wavefield inversions)
have the potential to resolve fine-scale structure, unrivalled by any
other geophysical technique. These inversions show that the uppermost
peak ring is formed from a thin layer of very low-velocity rocks, that
the peak ring is formed from low-velocity rocks, and that there are
high-velocity-zones immediately adjacent to the peak ring. These results
have a number of implications for models of peak ring formation.
