Fig. 6: Temperature and density in the Australasian impact plume.
From: Isotopic evolution of planetary crusts by hypervelocity impacts evidenced by Fe in microtektites
a - black and blue lines show the phase boundaries of quartz as calculated by the ANEOS package. The black branch represents saturated liquid, while the blue branch denotes saturated vapor. Red lines show release adiabats after shock compression to 110, 205, and 400 GPa. Thin horizontal lines correspond to the atmospheric pressure at sea level (10−4 GPa) and at an altitude of 30 km (10−6 GPa). The ejected materials with shock pressures below ~300 GPa, start to boil when the pressure is released. When the shock compressions are above ~300 GPa, the ejected material condenses during pressure release. The fraction of vapor remaining after the release is 0.1, 0.28, and 0.45, respectively. b–d –Temperature cross-sections of the plume through the plane of symmetry XZ at time frames of 0.5, 1.5, and 4.6 s following the impact at 45°. e–g – density cross sections of the impact plume at the same timeframes. Target materials are shown in green, projectile in gray and the atmosphere in blue.
