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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 1998; v. 140; p. 31-42;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.1998.140.01.05
© 1998 Geological Society of London

The Flux of Extraterrestrial Material to the Earth: Determination by Astronomical and Statistical Techniques

The mass distribution of crater-producing bodies

David W. Hughes

Department of Physics, The University, Sheffield, S3 7RH, UK

The physical phenomena governing planetary cratering can be represented by three equations. The first, the cratering rate equation, originates from the observation of areas of the Earth’s land-mass that have been exposed to an extraterrestrial flux for a known time, and the detection, counting and measurement of the resultant craters. The second, the energy-diameter equation, is much more uncertain. It relates the kinetic energy of an impacting body to the diameter of the crater that it produces. The third, the mass distribution equation, is also somewhat uncertain. This describes the way in which the flux of incident bodies varies as a function of their masses. This paper investigates the interrelationship between these three equations and comments on the comet/asteroid ratio among the extraterrestrial bodies responsible for producing the 19 < D < 45 km craters on Earth.





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