Micro-meteoroid seismic uplift and regolith concentration on kilometric scale asteroids

TL;DR

This study uses continuum mechanics simulations to show that micro-meteoroid impacts induce stronger seismic accelerations on kilometric asteroids than previously thought, affecting regolith movement and surface properties.

Contribution

It introduces a new modeling approach estimating higher seismic accelerations and their effects on regolith dynamics on small asteroids.

Findings

Seismic accelerations are about 50 times larger than earlier estimates.

Impact-induced seismic activity is more frequent on small asteroids.

Regolith lofting times are long relative to seismic signal durations.

Abstract

Seismic shaking is an attractive mechanism to explain the destabilisation of regolith slopes and the regolith migration found on the surfaces of asteroids (Richardson et al. 2004; Miyamoto et al. 2007). Here, we use a continuum mechanics method to simulate the seismic wave propagation in an asteroid. Assuming that asteroids can be described by a cohesive core surrounded by a thin non-cohesive regolith layer, our numerical simulations of vibrations induced by micro-meteoroids suggest that the surface peak ground accelerations induced by micro-meteoroid impacts may have been previously under-estimated. Our lower bound estimate of vertical accelerations induced by seismic waves is about 50 times larger than previous estimates. It suggests that impact events triggering seismic activity are more frequent than previously assumed for asteroids in the kilometric and sub-kilometric size range. The regolith lofting is also estimated by a first order ballistic approximation. Vertical displacements are small, but lofting times are long compared to the duration of the seismic signals. The regolith movement has a non-linear dependence on the distance to the impact source which is induced by the type of seismic wave generating the first movement. The implications of regolith concentration in lows of surface acceleration potential are also discussed. We suggest that the resulting surface thermal inertia variations of small fast rotators may induce an increased sensitivity of these objects to the Yarkovsky effect.